Dublin Port eyes Asian investment

THE Dublin Port Company has confirmed that it is looking at investment opportunities in ports in India and South-East Asia.

Just last week, at the publication of Dublin Port’s latest annual report and full-year results, chief executive Enda Connellan said — without going into detail — that the company would be interested in making investments in overseas ports if the right opportunities were to arise.

After speculation in the press over the weekend, a company spokesperson confirmed yesterday that there was interest in investing in ports in India and Cambodia.

They said that the consideration was in the very early stages and no details were available with regard to possible investment amounts, timeframe of activity, or even type of investment.

It could see Dublin Port either enter a joint venture port operational role or simply sign up as a developmental consultant.

Reports over the weekend suggested that management at Dublin Port are already in talks with the port authorities at Phnom Penh Port in Cambodia and with the developers of a newly built port near Goa in India.

Early last year the Dublin Port Company had to deny press speculation that it had agreed to invest $900 million (€612m) into the development of a new port at Sabang Aceh in Sumatra in Indonesia.

Last week Mr Connellan said that the company would be investing €30m, specifically on facilities at Dublin Port for 2008 as a whole — down by nearly €12m on 2007.

He added that the Port Company would be investing up to €500m on various projects over the coming 10 years. Dublin Port recorded a 6% increase in full-year revenue for 2007, to €70.4m, and a 7% rise in underlying operating profits to €28.5m.