Port of Tauranga Limited Analysis

Overview

The company was listed in May 1992 following a public issue of 33.6m shares at $1.05, which included a total of 12.6m shares previously owned by the Waikato Regional Council, and coincided with completion of a $53m expansion of port and cargo handling facilities.

The company's business predominantly services the forestry and farming industries in the region. Since listing the company has recorded strong growth in cargo volumes and increasing emphasis on container traffic. Significant recent initiatives have included establishment of Metroport, an inland port in South Auckland for the aggregation and distribution of import/export cargo, a 50:50 joint venture project with Northland Port to develop and operate a new $65m deepwater port (Northport) at Marsden Point in Northland, and acquisition of log handler Owens Services BOP (which operates in 10 ports.

POT derives its revenue through three main streams: port services, rental income and rental from investment properties. Other income also comes from investment dividends and fair value gains (losses).

POT has been granted Listing with a 'Non-Standard' ("NS") designation. This designation was granted because under the Port Companies Act 1988, changes to POT's Constitution must be approved by the Minister of Transport. For further information, please see the Port Companies Act 1988 which is publicly available at www.legislation.govt.nz.

Performance

The following information was extracted from Port of Tauranga Limited's Half Year results, released on 23 February 2024.

Port of Tauranga Limited (NZX: POT) today reported a $47.2 million profit for the six months ended December 2023.

Earnings were impacted by lower overall trade volumes, especially in imported and transhipped containers, and higher operating costs, including rail charges.

Total trade volumes reduced 8.5% compared with the first half of the 2023 financial year, to 11.6 million tonnes (down from 12.7 million tonnes). Container numbers reduced 15.8% to 536,930 TEUs.

However, log exports were boosted by the early harvesting and export of cyclone-damaged trees.

Highlights and challenges

Six months ended 31 December 2023:

• Group Net Profit After Tax: $47.2 million, a 24.7% decrease from $62.7 million
• Total trade: 11.6 million tonnes, an 8.5% decrease from 12.7 million tonnes
• Container volumes: 536,930 TEUs , a 15.8% decrease from 637,729
• Transhipped containers: 119,848 TEUs, a 25.1% decrease
• Imports: 3.9 million tonnes, a 22.7% decrease from 4.9 million tonnes
• Exports: 7.8 million tonnes, a 0.6% increase from 7.7 million tonnes
• Log exports: 3.6 million tonnes, a 19.2% increase from 3.0 million tonnes
• Direct dairy exports: 949,687 tonnes, a 4.4% decrease from 993,360 tonnes
• Subsidiary and joint venture company earnings decreased 34.2% to $4.8 million
• Interim dividend: 6.0 cents per share
• Ship visits: 674, a 3.9% decrease from 701
• Container productivity increased 5% to an average of 30.5 moves per hour
• Interim decision from the Environment Court to grant resource consent for Stage 1 of the Stella Passage project, subject to further

information.