SUBIC BAY

SBMA exceeds H1 2013 fiscal performance
Aug 26, 2014

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT - The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has again notched impressive financial performance in the first semester of 2014, surpassing even its record-breaking first half performance last year when it turned in a net profit of P1.2 billion, the agency's highest in its entire 21-year history.

According to the SBMA's midyear accomplishment report, the state-owned corporation obtained positive results in the first six months of 2014 in all the key results areas like investment generation, customs duties and tax collections, export production, as well as job creation.

In terms of committed investments, the SBMA amassed $267 million in the first six months of 2014, a 400 percent improvement over the $53 million record in the same period the previous year.

Meanwhile, freight-on-board exports rose by 173 percent, with $185,088 million in the first semester 2014 compared to $67,476 million last year; while employment generation managed a 1 percent growth, from 89,436 in 2013 to 90,425 in 2014.

Likewise, cash collections by the Bureau of Customs (BoC) here grew by 44 percent, from P4.945 billion in the first half of 2013 to P7.099 billion in 2014; while taxes collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) rose by 25 percent, from P4.945 billion in the first half of 2013 to P7.099 billion in the same period this year.

SBMA officials said the continuing improvement in the agency's financial performance stemmed from prudent fiscal management over the past few years under the helm of Chairman Roberto Garcia, which successfully implemented various measures to balance the budget and promote a healthier financial condition for the organization.

Records from the SBMA Finance Group indicated that, in particular, port revenues showed an increase of 52 percent in the first half of 2014 to cement a positive financial performance for the Subic Bay Freeport. The port revenues totaled P457.29 million, compared to P300.94 million in the same period last year.

The SBMA also noted an increase of 125 percent in revenues collected at the Subic Bay International Airport (SBIA), from P246,729 in the first semester of 2013 to P555,248 this year.

This came about with a marked increase in SBIA locator Aviation Concept's operations by 39 percent, from 66 flights in January-June 2013 to 92 flights in the same period this year.

Tourism revenues also grew by 20 percent, from P6.9 million last year to P8.29 million this year, resulting to a 27 percent increase in the SBMA's total operating revenues that increased from P946.01 million in first half 2013 to 1.198 billion this year.

The agency also posted a 62 percent increase in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), from P454.10 million to P737.89 million. The increased earnings, officials said, would allow the agency to recoup by the year end despite a midyear slowdown in net income before tax from P767.27 million in January-June 2013 to P337.26 million this year.

The SBMA also projected a P1.017 billion EBITDA this year, having reached the level of P737.89 million in June 2014 compared to the P992 million total in 2013.

In terms of employment generation, the SBMA reported that the active workforce in Subic Freeport reached a total of 90,425 in the first half of 2014 from last year's year end total of 89,584.

A large portion of Subic's employment growth stemmed from an increase in the number of workers at the Hanjin shipyard here, which rose from 18,535 in 2013 to 20,562 by midyear 2014.

In view of SBMA's improved fiscal performance, the agency was able to remit P243 million in dividends this year to the National Treasury, the first time it did in more than a decade.

It also released P93.7 million in revenue shares early this month to local government units contiguous to the Subic Bay Freeport, and P14.8 million in rental fees to the Ayta Ambala tribe for the use of parts of their ancestral domain in the Subic Bay Freeport. (30)

News 2014