Port of Tauranga says it is reinforcing its position as New Zealand’s largest freight gateway with a financial result for the six months to 31 December 2013 in line with the same period in the prior year.
Trade volumes are expected to improve over the second half of the year and provided there are no significant market changes, Port of Tauranga expect to achieve full year earnings for the 12 months ended 30 June 2014 in the region of $77 million to $81 million.
Port of Tauranga is well positioned for its next phase of growth,” says chairman David Pilkington. “Our acquisition of a half share in PrimePort Timaru and our development of a freight hub in Rolleston, southwest of Christchurch, bring new opportunities.”
“Strong international demand for the country’s agricultural and forestry exports will continue to drive increases in cargo volumes across our wharves.” he says
The Board has resolved to pay an interim dividend of 21 cents per share, up 5%, on the prior comparative period. The record date for entitlement to the interim dividend is 7 March and it will be paid 21 March 2014.
Group EBITDA for the period grew 5.5% to $71.5 million, from $67.7 million in the same period last year.
Overall trade volumes rose 5.8% to 9.9 million tonnes from 9.4 million tonnes in the prior year. The Port achieved this growth due to increases in bulk exports such as logs and bulk imports of dairy feed supplements and fertiliser, balanced by an 11.8% decrease in the number of containers handled to 381,038 TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units) from 431,878 TEUs in the comparative period.
This decline reflected a 17.5% fall in dairy exports over the comparative period, however dairy volumes are expected to be greater than last year for the full year ended 30 June 2014.
Total imports increased by 4.1% to nearly 3.1 million tonnes from 3.0 million tonnes in the prior year. Total exports rose 6.6% to 6.8 million tonnes from 6.4 million tonnes in the comparative period.
A new Liebherr gantry crane, the seventh in the Tauranga Container Terminal fleet, is currently being assembled and will be commissioned in March. The Terminal set an Australasian record in productivity in the three months to 30 September 2013 (as measured by the Ministry of Transport), achieving an average net crane rate of 37.1 moves per hour, well ahead of the national average of 33.7 moves per hour.
Port of Tauranga has ordered two new 74 tonne bollard pull tug boats for delivery early in 2015. A dredging project, to widen and deepen the shipping channels in Tauranga Harbour for larger ships, is in the final planning stages and work is expected to commence in the next financial year.
