Port of Tauranga sees strong profit, volume gains

The Port of Tauranga in New Zealand posted a net profit of NZ$42.1 million ($33 million) for its fiscal year ended June 30, a 14.1 percent increase.

Container throughput for the 12 months rose 25 percent to 582,072 TEUs. Total cargo volume was up 7 percent at 13.5 million tons. 

Ports of Auckland last week announced an interest in purchasing Port of Tauranga's container business in a release attached to its annual results.

We have not yet seen a proposal from Ports of Auckland and until we do, we are unable to comment, other than to say we are struggling to see how an offer would be value accretive to our shareholders in view of our strong result announced today. Nonetheless, Port of Tauranga has always held the view that a full merger between Port of Tauranga and Ports of Auckland makes good sense. That view has not changed, said Port of Tauranga Chairman John Parker.

Ports of Auckland returned an annual profit of NZ$21.1 million ($17 million) with container volume up 8.8 percent at 840,993 TEUs. 

Source: American Shipper