South Port warns shareholders unlikely to see bumper year

By NZPA

Thursday 3rd October 2002

Invercargill's South Port had a record year last year, but warned shareholders they were unlikely to see a repeat performance.

In notes for today's annual meeting, South Port said last year was the busiest in the port's history, with 2.1 million tonnes of cargo shipped.

Port chief executive Mark O'Connor said the port was an important cargo distribution link for the region, although it was not a container port.

"We promote South Port as a multi-purpose port, which is capable of handling bulk, break bulk and niche containerised cargo," Mr O'Connor said.

"By playing to our strengths, such as the availability of suitable land for port-side developments, break bulk expertise and operating flexibility, we have achieved steady growth in cargo totalling 22 percent between 2000-2002, compared with 3.5 percent over 1990-99."

Cargo volumes for 2002-2003 were likely to be more modest, although the company saw growth opportunities in the forestry, dairy, and agriculture sectors, as well as in niche container trades, he said.

Chairman John Harrington said the port company's growth last year had been on the back of Southland and Otago's economic growth, which was pushed along by a low exchange rate, good commodity prices and excellent climatic conditions.

Mr Harrington said the company's return on equity of 11.4 percent was a "marked improvement on the unacceptable 6.4 percent obtained two years ago".

Revenue increased to $14.2 million from $12.8 million in 2001, and after-tax profit rose to $2.7 million from $2.2 million.

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