The total revenue of Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX)-listed Sihanoukville Autonomous Port (PAS) shot up by 17.5 per cent last year, indicating strong growth in its year-on-year business performance.

An annual report from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport released on Wednesday said the Port’s total revenue reached some $80 million last year, an increase of 17.5 per cent compared to some $68 million in 2018.

Jong Weon Ha, a marketing strategist and CSX’s chief operating officer said PAS’ growth will provide a positive impact to the port’s securities trading and will attract more investors.

“The positive growth of any company impacts the stock market. Investors rely on information to make decisions on the price they are willing to pay to buy or sell stocks.

“For instance, PAS’ revenue growth will provide a favourable outlook for the company and push its stock price up, thanks to increased demand,” he said.

Weon Ha said there are a number of factors that attract investors to buy PAS’s stock. One is the fact that it is a State-owned enterprise that operates the only deep-sea port in Cambodia.

Also, it is financially sound, with revenue and net profits increasing year-on-year in the last four years, plus its attractive dividend yield and favourable price trend.

“Excluding the large number of shares traded through the Negotiable Trading Method (NTM) in May, PAS’ average trading value is still considered high compared with other listed companies last year,” Weon Ha said.

The ministry’s report also said the number of containers handled at the port also increased by 17 per cent, reaching a total of 633,099 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) by the end of last year compared to 541,228 TEUs in 2018.

Total tonnage handled by the ports also increased by 22.6 per cent and reached more than 6.5 million tons compared to some 5.8 million tons in 2018, while the total number of vessels to call at the port rose 15.5 per cent at 1,661 units compared to 1,451 unit in 2018.