Port of Auckland: A tough year, impacted by COVID, safety issues

Ports of Auckland released its results for the 2020/21 financial year

Interim CEO Wayne Thompson said, “This year has been tough. The combined impact of the pandemic and a fatal accident a year ago has had a heavy impact on our people and the business. At the container terminal the result was congestion and reduced volume. At our multi-cargo terminal, we’ve seen significantly higher volumes despite pandemic-related shipping delays.”

“While we have seen growth in some cargo categories, overall revenue is down, and so is profit.”

“For the coming year we are focused on getting the essentials right and putting the company back on track. We will continue the good work our teams have been doing to improve safety and develop a strong safety culture right across the business. We will focus on completing automation, and we’ll focus on safely getting productivity back to higher levels. Getting the essentials right and keeping our costs under control will ensure we can deliver higher returns.”

“This next year will still have challenges and setbacks, as the current lockdown shows. However, we have made good progress on addressing our problems and I have great faith in our people and in their ability to deliver when it matters most.”

Financials

• Revenue fell to $226.3 million from $231.4 million in the previous corresponding period (pcp).
  
• Reported net profit after tax increased to $45.6 million compared to $23.0 million for the pcp. This includes a significant revaluation of investment property.
  
• Underlying profit for the year fell to $20.7 million from $30.0 million in the pcp, largely driven by the COVID-19 response, the absence of cruise ships and the capacity throughput challenges in the container terminal.
  
• The declared dividend for the year was $3.7 million compared to $4.9 million in the pcp.
  

Volumes

• Container throughput fell to 818,238 TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) compared to 880,781 TEU for the pcp.
  
• Car and light commercial vehicle throughput rose to 236,260 units, compared with 216,356 units for the pcp.
  
• Total bulk and breakbulk throughput (including cars & light commercial vehicles) rose to 6.67 million tonnes compared to 5.8 million tonnes for the pcp.