Stevedoring Services Ltd. reported record net income for the year ended March 31, 2005 of $1.2 million, a 13 percent increase over $1.1 million earned in 2004 and an 88 percent improvement over $640,700 earned in 2003.

Earnings per share were 97 cents this year compared with 86 cents in 2004 and 51 cents in 2003.

Revenue for the year ended March 31, 2005 was $11.2 million compared to $10.4 million in the same period of 2004.

The company reported a 6 percent increase in expenses from $9.3 million in 2004 to $9.9 million in 2005. Return on sales rose from 10.35 percent in 2004 to 10.85 percent in 2005.

"Whilst the financial results for the company speak for themselves, having outperformed all benchmarks of previous years, fiscal 2005 has been a dramatic year for the company with events that have driven some necessary changes within the organisation and its methods of operation," said chairman Henry Hayward pointing to steady increases in container and cargo volume to meet increasing Bermudian consumption as a significant driver for change.

From fiscal 1993 to 2003 the docks experienced a 42 percent increase in container volume at an average of 4 percent per annum. Fiscal years 2004 and 2005 saw year on year increases of 6.5 percent and 7.6 percent respectively. The company recorded 44,092 container moves and tonnage of 575,465 for the year just ended compared to 41,250 container moves and tonnage of 542,137 for fiscal year 2004.

"We experienced some particularly challenging times during the second quarter of fiscal 2005 when container volumes reached levels that impeded our operating efficiency with broad community impact. As a consequence we were the targets of heavy and harsh criticism coming from the porting community," Mr. Hayward said adding that the company has since appointed Kenneth Joaquin its new chief executive officer and Candy-Lee Foggo its new operations manager. It has also added two pivotal executive positions of human resources manager and project / information technology manager. The company has also made a "concerted effort to forge a beneficial and strategic allegiance" with the Port Workers' Division of the Bermuda Industrial Union.

"We feel it is a safe statement to make that the relationship between the company and union is in a very healthy state, as can be evidenced by the record time in which the 2005 through 2007 negotiations were conducted ? 2 days," Mr Hayward said.

Collectively, they revamped and improved Stevedoring Services' operating methodologies which Mr. Hayward said resulted in greater efficiencies and customer satisfaction. He added that the removal of shed 8 and subsequent consolidation of the LCL operation of the remaining Shed 7 has resulted in been greater dock capacity, better container handling efficiency and faster inventory turnaround.

The docks had been in the midst of a serious backlog this summer, however Mr. Joaquin told yesterday that the company had cleared up the backlog. He said that the backup was a result of losing two days of productivity during the Belco blackout and a further two days during the Thursday and Friday of Cup Match.

"We have lost four productive days in a month which is traditionally one of the busiest months of the year for container time, but we reengineered our operation last year and as consequence, with the addition of extended hours, we are able to cope with additional cargo. Now we are back to an even keel so we were able to divert any possible backups or congestion," he said.

With its current two-year contract due to expire at the end of December, the company is now poised to apply to the Corporation of Hamilton to exercise a three renewal option.

"Whilst we are guardedly optimistic that the Corporation of Hamilton will see fit to grant us a new licence over a period which would permit us to make some notable capital equipment investments in the company, we are taking nothing for granted. Consequently we are committed to making incremental improvements to the operation to ensure that we are the operator of choice," Mr Hayward said adding that if the company's licence is renewed its future looks promising.

"Whist we see container and cargo volumes plateauing marginally this year with a consequential levelling effect on net earnings, over the long term we expect to see a slow and steady year on year growth thereafter. We are confident that the increased space afforded by the removal of shed 8 will be able to facilitate this growth. Additionally our improved operational methods will ensure that we remain both efficient and effective when dealing with the increased volumes."

Stevedoring Services is also poised to launch an Internet presence by the first half of the upcoming fiscal year. Mr. Joaquin said that a new website being Beta-tested will provide real time online access to the status of containers or LCL cargo. The system will allow any consignee to query whether cargo has arrived in Bermuda, whether the container been stripped and whether it is ready to be collected. Another part of the IT component will help the company more efficiently plan operations so that they can track containers from their point of departure to its arrival at Bermuda's docks and subsequent departure.