Further, the port recorded a strong 8.5% improvement in Group half year net profit, from NZ$38.6m to NZ$41.9m in the same period. Half year trade volumes also grew by 8% to reach 11m tonnes.
Half year Group revenue increased by 2.8% to NZ$125.3m, it revealed, while the Port of Tauranga Board has declared an interim dividend of five NZcents per share, up 8.7% on the prior year’s interim dividend.
Export volumes increased by 9% to just over 7m tonnes, while import volumes increased by 7% to almost 4m tonnes. Overall, it said, trade increased by 8% to 11m tonnes. Moreover, containers handled increased by 8% in the last six months of 2016.
Chairman David Pilkington said: “Our results show the Port of Tauranga is continuing to reinforce its position as the country’s premier freight gateway. We have lifted revenue and earnings and moved record cargo volumes, including more than 510,000 teu containers.”
Mr Pilkington added: “In the 2017 financial year, we expect to become the first New Zealand port to handle more than 1m containers in a 12 month period. The achievement is the direct result of our now completed five-year NZ$350m infrastructure investment programme, which has extended the port’s freight hinterland across the country, prepared the port for large ships, and provided importers and exporters with highly-efficient routes to the country’s most important markets.”
The port will continue to look for more freight hubs in 2017 to add to its growing network, added chief executive Mark Cairns: “We are looking at another North Island site at the moment,” he said. “I prefer not to say where location-wise, but we generally lock in a large customer before we make investments in those sites.”