Ports of Auckland, Port of Tauranga and Marsden Maritime all report interim profit.

With a net profit first half result of $21m, Port of Auckland says it will be able to pay its shareholder Auckland City a half year dividend of $20 million with an expectation to pay a further $15m later this year. 

Chair Jan Dawson said they were pleased with the result which had come despite challenging economic times and supply chain disruptions, adding that the port was on track to deliver at least a full year $35m dividend to its shareholding Auckland Council. 

Revenue increased to $162.5m, up from $159.5m first half in 2023.

Port of Tauranga Limited has reported a $47.2 million profit for the six months ended December 2023. Earnings were impacted by lower overall trade volumes, especially in imported and transhipped containers, and higher operating costs, including rail charges. 

Total trade volumes reduced 8.5% compared with the first half of the 2023 financial year, to 11.6 million tonnes (down from 12.7 million tonnes). Container numbers reduced 15.8% to 536,930 TEUs.

Port of Tauranga Chair, Julia Hoare, said the first half of the financial year had seen a return to more normal operating conditions following a period of extreme supply chain congestion since late 2020.

“I’m pleased to report that since March 2023 we have managed to eliminate delays at the Tauranga Container Terminal with the gradual return to shipping schedule adherence after a long period of unreliability,” she said.

“Whilst we were impacted by delays caused by strike action in some Australian ports during the reporting period, service delivery to our customers continues to improve with productivity rates returning to pre-Covid levels.

“Although operating revenue was affected by the reduction in storage charges, a more stable shipping schedule allows us to be much more efficient, with a 5% increase in container productivity against the previous comparable period.”

Marsden Maritime Holdings Limited is pleased to report continued growth in underlying earnings of $1,008k, up 15.6% on the same period of the previous year. This is driven by operating income of $6,048k, up 9.5% on previous year. This continued growth reflects the strength of the parent company’s operations and a sound recovery from Gabrielle.

They say ‘MMH remains focused on growing the parent financial performance and positioning the business to come through the FY24 year strongly, to enable us to deliver the masterplan He Ara Huringa’.