Thessaloniki Port 2013 profit declines 1.4pc as revenue falls 2.5pc

Apr.4--STATE-OWNED Thessaloniki Port (OLTH), Greece's second biggest, posted a year on year net profit drop in 2013 to EUR18 million (US$24.81 million), drawn on revenues of EUR52 million, down 2.5 per cent.

Earmarked for privatisation, the port attributed its decline in profit and revenue to higher taxes, Reuters reported.

"Despite the crisis and the economic recession, OLTH has achieved a steady profitability in the past three years, it increased its turnover and reduced its operational costs," said port CEO Stelios Aggeloudi.

Mr Aggeloudi also said that OLTH had recovered cargo business it had lost in 2008 due to the global financial crisis.

The state wants to shed its 74 per cent in the port. Selling assets is also a key condition of Athens' bailout programme.

The debt-heavy country has so far raised EUR2.6 billion, far below the EUR22 billion it set as a target when its bailout began four years ago.

In March, Greece launched a tender to sell 67 per cent of Piraeus Port. In 2009,N Cosco Pacific signed a 35-year agreement to run and upgrade two of its piers.