West Indies Petroleum Terminal posts lower earnings and stock swings

Fuel terminal operator West Indies Petroleum Terminal (WIPT) reported weaker earnings in its first financial release since listing, sending shares down more than 25 per cent.

Even so, the stock traded mid-day Thursday at $9.20 – more than 18 times its December debut price of $0.50. The rally has produced eye-catching valuations. On Tuesday, WIP Energy and World Energy Solutions, WIPT’s two largest shareholders, briefly saw their holdings valued at $100 billion and $30 billion, respectively, when the company’s market capitalisation closed trading at $135 billion. Intraday trading on Tuesday pushed the valuation as high as $156 billion before the stock cooled from $14 highs to $12.20. That translated in hard currency to nearly US$1.0 billion for a company that reported equity of US$29.0 million as of September 2025, up from US$27.0 million at year-end 2024, aided by property revaluation gains.

“The company continues to diversify its income streams,” WIPT said in its financials.

WIPT operates the Port Esquivel terminal, storing petroleum products such as fuel oil, diesel, gasolene, but not natural gas. WIPT operates as the storage and logistics arm of its fuel provider parent West Indies Petroleum. For the third quarter ended September, net profit fell to about US$648,000 from roughly US$868,000 a year earlier. Unaudited nine-month earnings totalled US$1.9 million, marginally below the US$2.1 million recorded in the prior year. Quarterly revenue declined 6.0 per cent to US$2.23 million, while year-to-date revenue slipped 3.0 per cent to US$6.5 million, reflecting weaker throughput volumes despite growth in third-party storage contracts.

The company added that storage fees from third parties rose to US$2.4 million, or 43 per cent of total storage revenues, compared with US$600,000, or 10 per cent, a year earlier. Throughput revenues from third parties climbed to US$400,000, or 6 per cent of total revenue, versus none in the prior year. The shift stems from contracts acquired from an oil supermajor, which WIPT expects will drive further gains in 2026.

Efforts to reach CEO Charles Chambers were unsuccessful. He did not respond to written questions and was said to be travelling. Since its December 2025 listing, WIPT’s shares – listed by introduction – have surged largley due to the lack of supply on the market rather than fundamentals, sources reasoned.

business@gleanerjm.com