Plipdeco records 29% increase in H1 revs.

Point Lisas Industrial Port Development (Plipdeco), which operates the Point Lisas port and industrial estate in Trinidad & Tobago, recorded gross sales of US$15.1mn for 1H04, a 29% increase on 1H03, the Trinidad Guardian reported. The company attributed the growth in turnover mainly to increased activity at the port, which it expects to continue to the end of the year. Turnover in the port and related activities segment increased by 27% to US$9.15mn. The industrial estate segment recorded growth in turnover of 22.1% to US$3.6mn, while turnover in the towage segment was up 57.92% to US$2.2mn. Plipdeco also reported an operating profit of US$7.06mn for 1H04. However, much of this increase was due to 'fair value gains' of US$3.08mn which were the result of an accounting requirement and do not constitute a return from trading activities. Adjusting for the fair-value gains, operating profit amounted to US$3.98mn, an increase of 7% on 1H03.