Westports Holdings Berhad

[CityFarmer]

I starts a thread on this company, a newly listed company. The strategy seems interesting, which may warrant further research...

Malaysia’s F1-inspired Westports surges forward in market debut

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s Westports Holdings jumped as much as 8 percent in its market debut on Friday, with investors keen on its strategy to treat container ships like Formula One race cars as they ply the 900-km long Malacca Straits.

Calling itself a pit stop, the port operator backed by Asia’s richest man, Mr Li Ka-shing, derives 70 per cent of its revenues from transhipments where super-sized ships move containers carrying finished goods to smaller vessels for transport to nearby markets.

Its aim is to shift 35 containers an hour instead of the industry-standard 25, a feat it compares to F1 pit crews turning around a race car in seconds and one that it hopes will help it weather a shipping industry downturn and fierce competition from other ports in the region.
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http://www.todayonline.com/business/mala...rket-debut

[CityFarmer]

Billionaire may let clients invest in Malaysian terminals

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian billionaire G Gnanalingam is open to shipping-line clients investing in Westports Holdings’ terminals to keep business as it expands port capacity, the Bloomberg news agency reported.

“We won’t sell equity in the port but will welcome joint-venture terminals,” Westports founder and Chairman Gnanalingam, 69, said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. “The advantage is that the customer will stay.”

Westports operates six container terminals at Malaysia’s Port Klang and plans to spend about 2 billion ringgit (S$777 million) to build three more to double its capacity, Mr Gnanalingam said. As the company expands, an agreed alliance among the world’s three biggest container shipping lines has fuelled investor concerns that it could lead to fewer port calls.
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http://www.todayonline.com/business/bill...-terminals