By DANIEL RIORDAN
Northland Port Corporation has continued the run of bullish port company results, more than doubling its interim profit on record cargo volumes.
The company's $1.64 million profit for the six months to September 30 compares with $780,000 for the same period last year.
Last year's interim included
a loss of $5 million on discontinued engineering operations; this year the figure was $1.3 million, despite directors having included a provision for a "final" loss in the company's annual accounts.
Chief financial officer Jim Smellie said the company expected to meet forecasts of a $4.2 million profit for the March year.
The port's cargo volumes rose 27 per cent, with strong growth in logs, wood chip and fertiliser.
However, the record volumes had exposed the limitations of facilities at Port Whangarei. The construction of the new deep-water port at Marsden Pt - a joint venture with Port of Tauranga - was progressing on time and within budget, with the first vessel call scheduled for next June.
The company had already announced a 3.5c-per-share ordinary dividend and a 5cps special dividend to be paid on November 23.
Northland's operating performance mirrors similar results from port companies around the country in the past 18 months.
Auckland's container volumes were up 6 per cent and its non-containerised cargoes up 9 per cent in the September quarter.
Tauranga reported bumper trade through the September quarter, with container volumes 25 per cent ahead.
Napier reported record cargoes for the year to March 31.
Cargo volumes at Wellington's Centreport rose 6 per cent in the three months to September 30.
Lyttelton's cargo volumes were up 4 per cent in the June year.
Timaru's container volumes doubled over the same period.
Bluff's South Port reported record import and export volumes in the 12 months to June 30.
