OCEANIA

Contrasting NZ port results

9 years ago

Lyttelton Port of Christchurch (LPC) has delivered a strong return in the 2016-2017 financial year while Port Taranaki has experienced a tougher 12 months to June 30, 2017.

Port Taranaki (pictured) has experienced a tougher 12 months to June 30, 2017 Photo: Donna Rutherford/flickr/CC BY-ND 2.0

LPC achieved a comparable 8.2% increase in revenue to NZ$114.4m and turned an impairment-influenced loss of NZ$59.8m last year into a NZ$14.4m net profit after tax.

Experiencing widespread growth, LPC achieved an 11% increase in container throughput to reach a record-breaking 401,711 teu and has announced a 90% increase in annual dividend to NZ$8m.

LPC chief executive Peter Davie says the business is in the midst of “one of the most exciting stages of development in our history” as it advances investment and pursues efficiencies to handle a “large forecast increase in freight demand”.

Contrastingly, Port Taranaki returned a comparable 6.7% decline in revenue to NZ$41.7m and 18.6% decrease in net profit after tax to NZ$7.2m.

Total trade fell 1.4% to 5.1m tonnes, albeit the port was still able to declare a 60% increase in annual dividend to NZ$8m.

Retiring Port Taranaki chair John Auld cited reduced shipping activity, lower oil commodity prices and a fall in the stockfeed market as contributing factors.

Port Taranaki chief executive Guy Roper says the outlook for the new financial year is “stable”, with revenue, profit and cargo volumes forecast to be in line with the 2016-2017 results.