A total of 214 employees of Fiji Ports Corporation Limited (FPCL) and its subsidiary company, Fiji Ships and Heavy Industries will be receiving their bonuses for the 2016 financial year.

The bonus payout of over $256,000 is for established salaried staff and casual workers based on assessment of individual KPIs in line with a company’s Performance Management System framework.

This is the second consecutive year Government has awarded bonus of over quarter million to reward the staff in recognition of the hard work and commitment displayed.

The financial performance of the Fiji Ports Group for 2016 represented a very positive outcome. Following the Company’s encouraging achievements in 2015, FPCL has once again delivered a very attractive Balance Sheet by the close of 2016.

It represents the Company’s first full year of operation under its new part-privatized structure, and the Company’s robust financial results mirror the success of the divestment of a percentage of shares in the Company to the private sector.

Under the partnership, of which 80 percent of the total number of shares remained in Fiji hands, the Fiji Ports Group of companies recorded a profit of $26,254,454representinga 93% increase on the 2015 NPAT return of$13,577,091. This performance was underpinned by strong profitability growth for Fiji Ports Corporation Limited (FPCL) and Fiji Ships and Heavy Industry Limited (FSHIL).

Fiji Ports recorded a strong shareholders dividend from operating profits of $16,082,198 – a 217 percentage increase compared to $5,070,605 in 2015.

Dividend paid to the Fijian Government was $6,593,701, Fiji National Provident Fund received $6,272,057 while Aitken Spence received $3,216,440

 Total Dividend Payout in Previous Years

 During the year, Fiji Ports committed itself to loan repayments of $9.5million, which brought the total amount paid between December 2012 and December 2016 to $39.5million.

By the close of the year, the Company had no current borrowings and a high degree of liquidity providing an ideal platform for further development.

The Attorney General and Honorable Minister for Public Enterprises thanked the Board, Management and staff of Fiji Ports and Fiji Ships for their tireless efforts in achieving this performance and looked forward to ensuring an even better performance in the years ahead.

Under the new agreement Fiji Ports is expected to become more profitable as it moves closer to achieving its primary goal of transforming the Port of Suva into a hub port by the year 2020.

A priority way forward for Fiji Ports is its 15 year Master Development Plan for port infrastructure development which is in its final stages. The 15 year Master Plan is based on a consultative, integrated, staged, and financially sustainable approach to future port development.

Fiji Ports believes that a carefully executed Plan for modern port facilities will provide enormous long-term benefits and economic returns for its shareholders as well as wider stakeholder groups, and create opportunities for new business ventures.

FACT FILE

• Under the new partnership, the Ministry of Public Enterprises controls 41%, Fiji National Provident Fund has 39%, with Sri Lankan conglomerate Aitken Spence PLC (AS PLC) controlling the remaining 20%.
• For the second consecutive year, FPCL was being awarded the Fiji Business Excellence Award(Prize Level Award)at the prestigiousFiji Business Excellence Awards, became the Second Runner-Up Award in the South PacificStock Exchange 2016 Annual Report Competition;andreceivedFNU’s Green Awardfor protectionof the environmen
• Its subsidiary company, FSHIL was certified for ISO 9001:2009 Standard after two years of appraisal and major revampto the company’s opera