The backlog in transporting grain on the railroads was a factor in the cooling down the performance of North West Terminal Ltd. for the first six months of operations in 2013-14.
While revenues and net profits remain strong for the Unity-based company, which owns and operates an inland terminal at that location, the results did not quite measure up to the torrid pace for the same period the year earlier.
For the period from Nov. 1, 2013 to April 30, 2014, NWT posted revenues from consolidated operations of $69.2 million, and an EBITDA of $4,730,669 (unaudited), for a net profit of $2,158,882, or $.66 a share.
That compares to revenues from operations of $71.8 million, an EBITDA of $6,159,863 and a net profit of $3,511,009 or $1.07 a share from the same period in 2012-13.
It seems clear the widely-publicized railway delays of grain shipments, an issue impacting farmers across Western Canada following last year's bumper crop, was a key factor in the numbers for the independent, farmer-shareholder-owned company.
In a news release issued July 2, NWT management attributes the decrease to "vessel demurrage and contract delay penalties due to rail service issues for the grain division," as well as "reduced margins due to reduced volumes for the bio-products division." NWT also operates a bio-products production facility at Unity.
Despite the issues, NWT president John Leier said in a statement that the board of directors was pleased with the company's first-half performance. But he held nothing back in describing the railways' performance during that same period.
"Rail service over the winter was abysmal and resulted in significant costs for NWT in terms of vessel demurrage charges and contract delay penalties," said Leier. "We are pleased that the company was able to navigate through these challenges."
.png;w=120;h=80;mode=crop)
