Cargo driving growth in SBMA operating revenue despite pandemic

Port operations at Subic Bay is driving a growth in operating revenue for the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—Income generated by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) from containerized cargo has helped the agency earn P820.84 million in operating revenue in the first quarter of 2021.

In a statement on Monday (April 26), the SBMA said the amount was a 5.23-percent increase from the P780.08 million posted in the first quarter of 2020.

Wilma Eisma, SBMA administrator, said the Port Authority Group generated P374.54 million during the period, which raised the agency’s operating revenue by P60 million.

The increase in operating revenue led to “a positive balance even as four other strategic business units (SBUs) recorded decreases in revenue,” Eisma said.

She said the 25-percent increase in port revenue was driven by a 10 percent increase in the volume of containerized cargo.

“The pandemic might have caused losses to some of our units, but others—like our core business, which is the sea port—are coming out as winners,” Eisma said.

While the SBMA recorded substantial income loss in tourism business, the agency earned P241,637 in sports facilities rental in the first quarter of 2021, compared to zero income in 2021.

The SBMA also earned P35,000 in location site-shoot, which represented a 116-percent increase from 2020’s figures, and P15,000 in fishing permit collection, which was 113-percent higher than 2020’s.

TSB