Record profits for Port Of Tauranga

Port of Tauranga has posted record full-year earnings as revenue continued to grow, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

New Zealand's biggest export terminal, based in the northern city of Tauranga, said its underlying earnings after tax for the year to June 30 were US$35.12 million, up 9.3 percent on last year's record profit.

If a one-off non-cash adjustment of $7.46 million due to taxation changes announced in the government's May 20 budget and a $1.7 million impairment to assets values are stripped out, the company said its net profit after tax was $27 million.

Revenue was $105.22 million, up $3.12 million from the previous year.

Port of Tauranga chairman John Parker said the company's diversity of income streams and cargoes, together with a focus on cost control "helped shield it from turbulent economic times".

Total trade for the year was up 2.4 perc ent to 13.74 million metric tonnes, comparing favorably with last year's slight decrease in tonnage of 0.5 percent, it said. Exports increased more than eight percent. However, container volumes were down 6.5 percent, largely due to a rationalisation of services through shipping line mergers.   
(Source:www.cargonewsasia.com)