The Port of Tauranga, New Zealand's largest port, has posted record earnings for the year to 30 June 2011 on strong cargo growth, tight cost control and solid contributions from associate companies.
Underlying new profit after tax hit NZ$57.9m, the port revealed, an increase of 17.2 per cent on the NZ$49.4m recorded during the previous year.
'This excellent result underscores Port of Tauranga's position as the country's pre-eminent port,' said Port chairman John Parker. 'Despite the patchy economic recovery, we have enjoyed strong growth in trade volumes.'
Trade volumes through the port climbed 12.4 per cent to NZ$15.4m, despite a 'patchy economic recovery', with container volumes up 15 per cent to 590,506 TEUs.
'Recent research by New Zealand's Ministry of Transport confirmed Port of Tauranga to be the most productive container port in Australasia, in the top 10 per cent of the world's most productive ports,' said Parker. 'This highlights our ability to control costs while making improvements to customer service.'
Looking ahead, Port of Tauranga chief executive Mark Cairns said that although kiwifruit volumes held up during the year, the Psa bacterial vine disease is likely to weigh on export volumes as the disease begins to harm plant productivity.
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