Port of Tauranga profit surges, but frustrated by Stella Passage delay

Increased volume through the Port of Tauranga drove a 23% lift in its underlying net profit to $126 million for the June year, the company said.

The result from New Zealand’s biggest port was slightly above the top end of the company’s guidance range of $115m to $125m.

Total trade for the Port of Tauranga (POT) increased 7% on the previous year, to 25.3 million tonnes.

Container volumes increased 5.3% to 1.2 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalents).

POT’s group net profit of $173.4m - a 90.8% increase - included a one-off gain of $49.2m from the sale of Northport as a result of the Marsden Maritime Holdings acquisition.

Looking ahead, POT said import growth was supported by a strong export performance, but that rising trade tensions were taking a toll.

The company suffered a setback on Wednesday when a judicial review of its fast-track application for the Stella Passage development halted the expansion work.

In today’s result, the company said a legislative drafting error has resulted in the court putting the fast-track process on hold.

An expert panel was due to commence its discussions on the port’s expansion plans on September 1.

“The ongoing delays in obtaining a resource consent for the Stella Passage development are extremely frustrating and are reaching crisis point as the port is forced to turn away shipping services due to a lack of berth capacity,” the port said.

In the past month, POT said it had to decline a proposed new service to the Americas that would have provided New Zealand importers and exporters with an estimated $65m to $90m a year in international freight savings.

Highlights from the result included:

• Imports: 8.9m tonnes (up 13.9%)
• Exports: 16.4m tonnes (up 3.6%)
• Ship visits: 1442 (up from 1427)

POT declared a final dividend of 9.7 cents per share (up 11.5%), taking the total to 16.7c (up 13.6%).

In its “outlook” statement, POT said it was seeing modest import growth supported by strong export performance in dairy and horticulture.

“However, global trade tensions and tariff uncertainty continue to cast a shadow on market confidence and could limit momentum.

“Globally, the port and shipping sector is facing challenges such as container fleet oversupply, trade slowing in some markets, and geopolitical disruptions (such as Red Sea shipping diversions) leading to increased costs.

“Margin pressure on shipping lines, along with carbon pricing pressure, can be expected to accelerate the cascading of larger, newer ships into the Oceania routes.”

POT said the new financial year had started well, “despite the ongoing frustrations and delays in progressing the Stella Passage development”.

Yesterday, the Port of Auckland (POAL) reported a 55% lift in underlying net profit to $85.4m.

POT’s biggest competitor will pay a full-year trading dividend of $52m and a $45m special dividend to Auckland Council after the sale of its stake in Marsden Maritime Holdings (MMH).

In May, POAL announced plans to hike its fees by 77% in 2026.

Jamie Gray is an Auckland-based journalist, covering the financial markets, the primary sector and energy. He joined the Herald in 2011.