Bluff port operator South Port is reporting record cargo volumes and has lifted its profit forecast.
Chairman John Harrington said activity in both bulk and containerised cargo was stronger than forecast in the last two months of the financial year.
The increase was due mainly to increased fertiliser,forestry and bulk cargo associated with the dairy sector plus the introduction of the MSC Capricorn weekly container shipping service.
Cargo volumes for the year to the end of June reached 2.25 million tonnes, compared with the previous record of 2.16 million tonnes the year before.
The tax-paid profit forecast was upgraded to a range of $2.3 million to $2.35 million, compared with $2.23 million last year. In South Port's interim report shareholders had been advised the 2008 year end profit was expected to be 5 to 10 per cent lower than the previous year.
A final year-end profit will be announced on August 21 once the annual audit process is completed.
The forecast 2008 profit figure included two one-off transactions which will record an after-tax deduction against income of about $90,000, South Port said.
For the 2009 financial year, a just completed sale of a mobile crane had generated a gain of about $185,000.
Shares in South Port, 66.5 per cent owned by the Southland Regional Council, were down 4c to $2.15 yesterday, having ranged between $3.30 and $2.05 in the past year.
