JSC TransContainer Operating Results For the FIrst Quarter of 2013
JSC TransContainer
OPERATING RESULTS FOR THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2013
Open Joint Stock Company TransContainer (TransContainer or the Company) (LSE: TRCN) announces its preliminary operating results for the first quarter of 2013. The operating results reflect a weakening in market conditions for Russian rail transporters amid an increasingly competitive environment and a challenging economic climate..
Rail container transportation volumes
The Companys rail container transportation volumes in Russia for the first quarter of 2013 decreased by 1.3% to 342 thousand twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) compared to 347 thousand TEU for the same period of 2012. This was mainly due to an 11% drop in domestic transportation volumes, partly compensated for by growth in imports, which grew by 36.4%. A decrease in the Companys domestic transportation on the back of a 2.8% reduction in Russias total domestic rail container turnover and the tightening competition on domestic routes, was also driven by a change in focus towards the fast growing import transportation segment and partial employment of the Companys rolling stock in Kazakhstan and Central Asia by its subsidiary Kedentransservice.
Transportation of containers by TransContainer’s fleet in 1Q 2013 (ISO Loaded + Empty), 000 TEU
| 1Q 2013 | 1Q 2012 | Change 1Q 2013 / 1Q 2012 | ||
| 000 TEU | Percent | |||
| Domestic Routes | 167.1 | 186.8 | -19.6 | -10.5% |
| Export | 90.7 | 90.6 | +0.1 | +0.1% |
| Import | 64.4 | 47.2 | +17.2 | +36.4% |
| Transit | 20.1 | 22.2 | -2.1 | -9.4% |
| All Routes | 342.4 | 346.8 | -4.4 | -1.3% |
Rail container transportation volumes carried out by KedenTransService, the Companys subsidiary in Kazakhstan, amounted to 15 thousand TEU in 1Q 2013, which represents a 4-fold increase on the first quarter of 2012.
The Companys revenue-generating container transportation[1] volumes in Russia decreased by 0.4% in the first quarter of 2013 to 259 thousand TEU from 260 thousand TEU in the first quarter of 2012.
TransContainers estimated share of Russias rail container transportation decreased to 48.5% in the first quarter of 2013 compared to 49.7% in the first quarter of 2012.
Terminal handling
Throughput of the Companys rail container terminal network in Russia in the first quarter of 2013 decreased by 10.9% to 297 thousand TEU compared to 333 thousand TEU for the same period of 2012. This decline is mainly due to the continuing phasing out of medium-duty containers (MDC) – MDC handling volumes fell by 69.4%.
The volume of ISO container handling in Kazakhstan by KedenTransServices rail side terminals amounted to 37 thousand containers in the first quarter of 2013, a 64.6% increase over the first quarter of 2012.
Asset utilisation
In the first quarter of 2013, both flatcar and container empty runs improved considerably, mainly due to fleet relocation undertaken by the Company at the end of 2012 ahead of tariff increases by Russian Railways (RZD) in January 2013. Growth in the container and flatcar turnover reflects the weak market environment in the first quarter of 2013 combined with the low season effect in January and February of 2013.
| 1Q 2013 | 1Q 2012 | |
| Turnover of containers, days | 26.0 | 23.1 |
| Turnover of flatcars, days | 14.0 | 13.6 |
| Empty run3 for containers, % | 29.2% | 39.3% |
| Empty run3 for flatcars, % | 6.1% | 8.1% |
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3 The Empty run ratio is calculated as an average empty run in kilometers divided by an average total run in kilometers
