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Funny that PD ports now has a bright future?!?!?!
From Northstar Business News



PD Ports confident for the future
Nov 23 2009 Evening Gazette

TEESPORT operator PD Ports says its new owner will bring “stability and longevity” to the business.

The takeover bid by Canadian-based Brookfield Asset Management was approved by shareholders last week, with new ownership confirmed on Friday.

PD Ports group chief executive, David Robinson, said the new owner had put the company on a firmer financial footing.

Previous owner, Babcock & Brown Infrastructure, had been under pressure to sell off assets to reduce its debt pile.

He said: “We now have a large shareholder which is extremely well-capitalised and well- resourced.

“It has brought a degree of comfort, stability and longevity to the business.”

He said Brookfield had given no indication that it was looking to sell off PD Ports assets or make redundancies on Teesport, although uncertainty over the future of the Redcar steelmaking plant owned by key customer Corus meant future job cuts could not be ruled out.

In May, PD Ports was poised to shed around one fifth of its 600-strong Teesside workforce to guard against the Corus plant closing.

But since then the plant has secured further orders and PD Ports has not had to make compulsory redundancies.

The ports sector has hit hard by the recession, with year-on-year inward freight traffic at Teesport and Hartlepool falling by 33% in the second quarter, according to Government figures.

But Mr Robinson also said container volumes at Teesport had picked up by more than 30% in the last six months as demand for shipped goods flooded back to the market.

Redcar and Cleveland Council has also expressed hope of a “long and prosperous future” after PD Ports’ change in ownership.

Council leader, Cllr George Dunning, said Brookfield was inheriting “a first-class workforce that would be the envy of any employer”.

PD Ports employee Mark Hannon, who is also the council's cabinet member for economic development, said he hoped for a period of “stability and prosperity” after an uncertain few months.

“We all want to see forward investment in our people as well as property,” he said.