Napier Port today declared a 18.5 per cent increase in 12-month profit and said it was confident for the coming year, despite an uncertain international outlook.
At its annual meeting, the port reported after tax profit of $5.94 million, compared with $7.04m last year.
Chairman Peter Wilson said the year had been mixed, "where imports rose and some export categories reached record levels, but these achievements were offset by a fall in log and apple exports".
Low value commodities, which mainly trade in United States dollars, continued to suffer from currency and high shipping costs driven by global capacity shortages, Mr Wilson said.
He added he expected acquisitions and mergers between world container lines to impact on all New Zealand ports in the coming year.
Imports to the port grew by 3.6 per cent -- 40,000 tonnes -- to 1.130m tonnes over the year, contributing 36.8 per cent of total throughput.
Exports fell by 89,263 tonnes -- 4.4 per cent -- on last year to 1.939m tonnes, however there was an "improving throughput of pulp, sawn timber and a number of food categories across fresh, frozen and canned items," he said.
Ship numbers also fell, with vessel arrivals falling from 720 in 2004 to 634 in the year ending September 2005.
The port will return a total dividend of $4.8m to its shareholders, representing 81 per cent of the after tax profit, Mr Wilson said.
- NZPA
Napier port profits up 18.5 per cent
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