Industrial action hits Lyttelton port result
The acrimonious industrial unrest at Lyttelton Port Company (LPC) over several weeks earlier this year has reduced the company’s annual profit.
LPC chief executive Peter Davie said other details would be revealed in the annual report including return on equity, and the dividend to the company’s cash-strapped owner, the Christchurch City Council.
After extracting the cost of the strikes, expenses and tax, the final profit for 2018 was $12 million, down on last year’s $14.4m, even though more trade led to higher revenue at $122m, compared with last year’s $114m.
Davie focused on positive milestones, including deeper dredging by one of the world’s biggest dredges, the Fairway, which is due to arrive at the port in a few days.
A recent settlement with Nga¯ i Tahu over environmental monitoring allowed signoff for the dredging resource consent, one of several initiatives that Davie said would set up the port for freight demands for 30 years.
For the year ended in June, the port had a 5.7 per cent increase in containers, with 424,560 20-foot equivalent units (TEUS) processed through the port compared with 410,711 in the previous year.
‘‘Container volumes would have been even higher but industrial action in March and April reduced the number of units by about 10,000,’’ Davie said.
The port had hired extra staff, invested in health and safety, and faced higher rail and fuel bills.
Imports rose from $4.1 billion to $4.67b for the year, while exports were $4.84b compared with $4.7b the previous year.
During the year LPC completed a 170-berth walk-on floating marina, Te Ana Marina, and bought a new $12.5m Liebherr crane.
In July construction started on the port’s new $56m cruise berth, which is set for completion at the end of 2020. The wharf was redesigned to reduce underwater noise during piling, and a plan was in place to manage risks to Hector’s dolphins.
Staff moved into new headquarters, Waterfront House, which brought teams together for the first time under one roof.