The opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB) last October has quickly bitten into the profits of ferry service provider TurboJET, with owner Shun Tak Holdings revealing a 20% year-on-year decline in its busiest Hong Kong-Macau route in 2018.
Operating profit for the route fell from HK$307 million in 2017 to HK$246 million last year while overall passenger volume was down 10% from 14.5 million to 13 million.
In its 2018 result announcement, Shun Tak pointed to a combination of rising fuel costs and “a drop in passenger numbers due to the diversion of some traffic to the HZMB.”
Revenue for Shun Tak’s transportation segment fell 8% to HK$2.20 billion for the 12 months to 31 December 2018, however the loss of some ferry traffic was softened by the launch of the company’s HZMB bus service.
Shun Tak is part of a conglomerate that won exclusive rights to operate coach services between Hong Kong and Macau on the HZMB, with its subsidiary Shun Tak & CITS Coach (Macao) Limited reporting 7% growth in revenue to HK$177 million in 2018 thanks to the addition of the bridge route.
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