Forth Ports has grown operating profits by 6% against a tough backdrop in its first year under private ownership, though almost half its £53 million profit was paid out to bankers and advisers in exceptional costs of leaving the stock market.
The Edinburgh-headquartered business, with seven ports on the Forth and Tay estuaries and the huge Port of Tilbury in Essex, was acquired in June 2011 by Arcus European Infrastructure Fund, which has subsequently sold a 37% stake to a Canadian pension fund.
The £746m deal marked the end of Forth Ports's two decades as a quoted company, and also confirmed a shift in strategy with the sale of the Ocean terminal shopping centre at Leith and a refocus on its trading business – though its port land gives the group a key role in Scotland's renewable energy infrastructure ambitions.
Forth Ports grew revenues in 2011 by only 1% to £183.5m, but chief executive Charles Hammond told The Herald that a "focus on operating efficiency" had converted that into the 6% profit rise. He said £11m of acquisition-related costs and £13.7m for debt restructuring came with the change of ownership, adding: "Both shareholders are very supportive ... the best evidence is that they supported the acquisition of the container business down at Tilbury.
"It is possible to do things like that perhaps more efficiently with two shareholders who are interested in the long term."
In January, Forth Ports' owner Otter Ports paid £95m to take full control of Tilbury Container Services, where it held a 33% stake, from DP World and Associated British Ports. The deal enabled Forth to merge TCS with its existing short-sea terminal to create the third largest single container operation in the UK, handling almost 500,000 units a year.
Mr Hammond said: "A large element of our business is now based in the south-east. The strength of Tilbury is of benefit to us as a Scottish company."
Also in January, the group sold Ocean Terminal to Resolution Property for an undisclosed sum after six months on the market with a reported price tag of £100m.
Forth went on to sign two memoranda of understanding with public agencies for the development of renewable energy infrastructure at Leith and Dundee. Leith has been shortlisted by Spanish renewables manufacturer Gamesa as a potential site for offshore wind turbine manufacturing operations, but Scottish Government support is needed for vital infrastructure work.
Mr Hammond added: "We can be very much a facilitator, not only with our deep water and land availability but also our handling expertise."
On the funding issues, he said renewables was a developing industry trying to get supply chain costs down and fund appropriate infrastructure.
The group has abandoned plans to build a biomass combined heat and power plant at Leith, which was opposed by environmental campaigners and local groups, but it remains committed to similar proposals for its spare land at Dundee, Rosyth and Grangemouth.
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