ICTSI Lifts Net Income 20% to $899 Million as Durban and Batam Terminals Drive Growth

International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) grew net income attributable to equity holders by 20% to US$898.89 million in the first nine months of 2026, up from US$751.56 million a year earlier, on the strength of two newly launched terminals and resilient trade in Asia and the Americas.

Consolidated throughput rose 13% to 12,114,429 TEUs from 10,687,128 TEUs over the nine-month period. Third-quarter volumes advanced 8% to 3,998,671 TEUs against 3,698,053 TEUs in the prior-year quarter.

Revenue from port operations climbed 24% to US$2.90 billion from US$2.34 billion, while EBITDA gained 21% to US$1.87 billion from US$1.54 billion. The bottom-line improvement came mainly from higher operating income across the group's network.

Which terminals drove the gains?

Two additions supplied most of the growth. Durban Gateway Terminal took over operations at DCT Pier 2 in South Africa in January 2026, and Batu Ampar Container Terminal in Batam, Indonesia, began operating in September 2025.

Strip out the new operations and discontinued ones, and the picture changes sharply: organic volume would have edged up just 0.1%. Excluding the same items, revenue would still have grown a robust 15%, driven by a favourable container mix, expanded ancillary services, and tariff adjustments at certain terminals.

Currency effects also worked in ICTSI's favour, with the Mexican peso, Australian dollar and Brazilian real translating into stronger dollar revenues. These tailwinds were partly offset by weaker volumes at certain EMEA terminals — chiefly Basra Gateway Terminal in Iraq, hit by the Middle East conflict — plus the deconsolidation of Yantai and a softer Philippine peso.

What happened to profitability?

The EBITDA margin slipped to 64% from 66%, a consequence of integrating the newly acquired operations. Excluding those, EBITDA would have grown 15% and the margin would have improved slightly to above 66%.

For carriers and shippers calling at Durban and Batam, the message is that ICTSI is directing capital toward lifting capacity and service levels at its newest gateways. Durban's Pier 2, a critical transshipment and gateway facility on Africa's east coast, now sits inside a group with the balance sheet to fund equipment and berth upgrades. Batam, positioned near the Malacca Strait shipping lanes, gives the operator a growing foothold in Southeast Asian transshipment flows.

Chairman and President Enrique K. Razon Jr. framed the results around breadth rather than any single market. The diversified portfolio, he said, provides resilience in a more challenging operating environment.

Razon added that the focus remains on integrating the new terminals and investing in capacity and service levels, with disciplined capital allocation and operational execution central to delivering sustainable shareholder value.

What comes next?

The near-flat organic volume figure of 0.1% is the number investors and shipping-line customers will watch. It shows that ICTSI's double-digit headline growth rests on acquisition-led expansion while underlying demand across its legacy network stays essentially unchanged — a dynamic that will persist as Durban and Batam mature and as the Basra terminal's recovery depends on conditions in the Middle East.