APM Terminals exits Russia ports biz

London Stock Exchange-listed Global Ports Investments PLC (Global Ports) today announced that the company and its board received notice from APM Terminals B.V., holding 30.75% of the shares in the company, about its intention to commence a process to divest its shareholding.

"APM Terminals further announced to the company and the board that they will continue to be represented on the board of directors and fulfil its obligations towards the company until such divestment has been effectuated," says the statement from Global Ports.

Confirming the development to this correspondent in an email, an official spokesperson of APM Terminals, said: "A.P. Moller-Maersk, through APM Terminals, owns a minority stake (30.75 percent) of Global Ports Investments (GPI). GPI is an EU company which operates 6 terminals in Russia and 2 in Finland. GPI is listed on the London Stock Exchange. We have today informed our joint venture partners and GPI that we wish to take steps to divest our shares following the invasion of Ukraine and the operational challenges."

The surprise here is that both the key promoters of Global Ports - Delo Group and APM Terminals - hold equal stake of 30.75 percent.

Delo Group is the largest transport and logistics holding in Russia, managing sea container terminals in the Azov-Black Sea, Baltic and Far Eastern basins, a network of railway container terminals, a fleet of containers and fitting platforms. The parent company of the Group is LLC MC Delo, 70 percent owned by founder Sergey Shishkarev and 30 percent owned by State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom.

Shishkarev's fortune, according to Forbes, was $800 million.

Global Ports owns and operates seven marine container and multipurpose terminals in two key marine container gateways. The group's main business is container handling. In addition, the group handles a number of other types of cargo including bulk, cars and other types of roll-on roll-off cargo.

The group handled 1.6 million TEUs in 2021, an increase of nearly 3%. Revenue increased 31 percent to $503 million, an increase of 17 percent, and adjusted EBITDA of $246 million was also up 17 percent. Free cash flow increased 47 percent to $129 million.

"The last two years have seen an extremely volatile operational environment and disruption across global supply chains and it has been vital for our customers to manage trade imbalances," Albert Likholet, CEO, Global Ports, said while announcing the results. "As a result, we have learned that offering the right infrastructure capacity combined with a high standard of service, ensures a clear focus on our client's needs at the right time and in the right location, and this had a favourable reception across our client base. Building on this strong foundation, we not only successfully enhanced our leading market positions in both basins of presence but also delivered solid growth in adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow.

"Due to this strong performance, 2021 marks a significant milestone in the Group's history, as we have succeeded in achieving our long-term deleveraging targets. This achievement opens up potential opportunities for revising our capital allocation approach in the future should we see a more predictable environment with greater visibility."

Maersk, like all other leading container carriers - MSC, CMA-CGM and Hapag - have stopped calling on Russian & Ukrainian ports after the break out of the conflict.

The Global Ports GDR, listed on the London Stock Exchange, is down over 80% year-to-date.