Slovenia: Luka Koper Moves in Right Direction

This year the Luka Koper share has recorded one of the largest growths on Ljubljana’s stock exchange, and this is ultimately the result of the company’s good performance in 2013, Gašpar Gašpar Mišič, the Management Board President of Luka Koper d.d., said in his Letter to Shareholders today.

“In the last quarter of 2013 Luka Koper generated 36.2 million euros in revenues, the highest in its history, while the year as a whole saw a record throughput of 600,000 TEUs encompassing 18 million tonnes of container freight. This improvement in performance did not just happen; indeed, it is directly attributable to the implementation of immediate short-term measures aimed at increasing productivity and efficiency,” he stated.

The following activities are currently underway at Luka Koper:

– Implementation of the 2014 business plan, which anticipates some 37 million euros in infrastructure investments;

– Intensified activities aimed at the swift acquisition of all necessary consents to deepen the basin at the Container Terminal; a permit for the access of vessels of 12.5 metre draft (up from 11.4 m) has already been obtained from the Slovenian Maritime Administration;

– The second stage of seabed dredging at the Container Terminal quayside is underway and Basin I will be 14 metres deep by May;

– Construction work on an extended hinterland storage area at the Container Terminal, which will provide an additional 6,840 m2 of container storage capacity;

– Preparation of preliminary designs for the provision of new entrances to the port zone in order to facilitate internal logistics, relieve congestion, and thus decrease operational costs;

– Intensified marketing activities and enhancement of communications and contacts with business partners at home and abroad;

– Completion of IT communications infrastructure linking clients and partners;

– Relations within the company have been stabilised, and communication with all stakeholders has been improved;

– Close collaboration and partnership relations have been established with the local community.

[mappress]

Press Release, March 25, 2014