Flat start, but Tauranga port still optimistic

Falls in log and dairy exports through the Port of Tauranga have contributed to a slight dip in net profit after tax in the first quarter of the 2020 financial year for New Zealand’s biggest port.

Chief executive Mark Cairns told the listed company’s annual meeting that unaudited group net profit after tax from July 1 to September 30 was $21.7 million, down 6.3 per cent on the previous corresponding quarter.

The company expected full-year earnings of $96m-$101m, he said. In the 2019 year, group net profit after tax was $100.6m.

During the quarter the port handled nearly 6.8 million tonnes of cargo, down 1.1 per cent on the same period last year.

As forecast, log exports dropped — down

5.2 per cent by volume — following a sharp fall in international prices and demand in recent months.

Dairy exports decreased by 1.7 per cent. However, container numbers rose by 5.8 per cent to more than 312,000 and transhipments, where a container is transferred from one service to another at Tauranga, increased 9.2 per cent to more than

92,000.

In the year to June, Exports increased 11.2 per cent to 17 million tonnes and imports rose 8.4 per cent to 9.8 million tonnes. The port handled 37 per cent of all containers in New Zealand and 30 per cent of total national cargo.

A bumper cruise ship season injected an estimated $90.3m into the Bay of Plenty economy with 116 passenger ships visiting compared to the previous year’s 83.

In the coming season 112 cruise ships were booked to call.