Edinburgh's Forth Ports growth based on secured business

EDINBURGH-based ports and property group, Forth, is showing significant improvement in its ports arm according to The Scotsman and The Daily Telegraph.

The UK's last listed port operator with seven ports, of which five are in Scotland, all showed improvement with Investec Securities stating it was helped by a high level of secured revenues up to five years ahead, according to The Scotsman.

Forth is buoyed along by its Thames port of Tilbury, its largest asset and with a growing business from the Olympic site, is bidding to be official the distributor for the 2012 Games.

The port's business is showing "steady growth" Forth Ports CEO Charles Hammond told The Scotsman, with a rise in agriculture-related traffic and the export of Scottish produce. Tilbury port is predicting a rise of 5pc year-on-year for short-sea container traffic also.