Record half-year result for Port of Tauranga

The Port of Tauranga today posted a record half-year result as it consolidates its position as the country's leading freight gateway.

Revenue for the six months to December rose 14% to $105.7 million, from $92.8 million in the same period last year, while Net Profit After Tax rose 22% to $34.6 from $28.4 million, reflecting strong growth in core port operations and solid contributions from Associate and subsidiary companies.

Port of Tauranga Chairman, John Parker, said the results are a tribute to Port of Tauranga's staff and service providers, who have responded quickly to the growth in demand due to the ongoing recognition of our reliability, productivity and competiveness and also to the short-term increase in demand in the wake of the industrial dispute at Ports of Auckland.

Trade volumes across the port over the six month period increased 9.6% to 8,505,959 tonnes, of which 43% was containerised - up from 40% in the same period last year.

Container numbers increased 17.1% to 344,081 TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units) from the same period last year. Container traffic at the Tauranga Container Terminal increased 19.4% to 322,767 TEUs.

Container traffic at MetroPort Auckland, our inland port in the heart of Auckland s industrial sector, increased by 10.8% to 80,746 TEUs, from the same period last year. As this growth is expected to continue, Port of Tauranga and KiwiRail have increased train capacity to and from Auckland.

Port of Tauranga s Chief Executive Mark Cairns said Port of Tauranga had continued to deliver improved financial results accompanied by world class service and efficiency. The recent draft Productivity Commission report on International Freight Transport (released in January) found Port of Tauranga to be the highest performing port in New Zealand in terms of container productivity. He also noted the Port achieved upper decile container productivity when benchmarked internationally.

Port of Tauranga s on-going investment in infrastructure will help maintain and further enhance this record, Mr Cairns says.

Port of Tauranga s Board has declared a 20% increase in interim dividend to 12 cents per share, fully imputed, from last year's 10 cents per share. The record date for the dividend is 9 March 2012 and will be paid on 23 March 2012.