Tauranga aiming to take bulk of Maersk work

Port of Tauranga believes it can win the bulk of Maersk shipping line services as it reported a 7.8 per cent decline in profit to $31 million for the year to June.

The port said yesterday revenue dropped from $145.6 million to $122.4 million partly driven by weak forestry exports but was optimistic the sector should recover as the dollar softened.

Chief executive Mark Cairns said the port was set to become the premier port in the country and was in a good position to take on Maersk's services.

Maersk, which controls 40 per cent of the market, is planning to call at just two primary ports and three secondary ones with the aim to have one main port in either island.

Cairns said the port had extremely high productivity rates and was well positioned to become the premier North Island port.

"We have considerable strategic land holdings where no further land reclamation is required, and world-class productivity. Our crane rates are among the top five in the world and vessel rates are also high."

Chairman John Parker said the company had a strong balance sheet, well-controlled operating costs, with significant productivity increases being recorded this year.

Cairns said the greatest challenge in developing the business in the next five years would be the cost of fuel.

"Fuel is at the forefront of our minds and everybody in the transport sector as we go ahead."

The port's forestry downturn was pushed along by the high cost of oil and the NZ-US exchange rate.

And Toll Owens - the merger between Owens Cargo and Toll - is now equity owned so the result was not recorded in the ports accounts.

Despite the difficult trading conditions, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased by $987,000 - a result that Cairns described as satisfactory.

Total trade for the year was 12 million tonnes, down by 344,800 tonnes from last year. Forestry exports dropped 5.6 per cent to just over 4 million tonnes. Import volumes decreased 26 per cent to 161,600 tonnes.

Parker said that on a more positive note dairy exports had increased 7.6 per cent to 840,300 tonnes. The company would pay a final dividend of 13c a share on October 6, bringing the total payment to shareholders for the year to 20c, unchanged over 2005.

The share price closed down 7c to $4.93.