Profits buoy port’s outlook

Car imports handled by Ports of Auckland Ltd (POAL) fell to 118,135 units in the first half of 2022/23, which was down from 129,924 in the corresponding period of the previous financial year.

The statistics come as the company lifts its full-year net profit after tax (NPAT) forecast from $35 million to between $42m and $45m following a strong performance in the six months to the end of December.

POAL’s NPAT for the first half was $20.8m. That was up by 40 per cent on the previous corresponding period’s $14.8m.

It has already committed to delivering NPAT of $52m in the 2024 financial year in-line with the council’s budget request.

Roger Gray, chief executive officer, says POAL is focused on running a safe, profitable and reliable port.

It is also advancing its commitment to sustainability and has made progress towards achieving fair returns on assets.

“We’re doing our part to resolve supply-chain congestion and initiatives we’ve put in place are effective,” he adds.

“To give one example, during the first half our container terminal throughput improved by around 3,000 TEUs [20-foot equivalent units] a week compared to the start of the financial year.”

To strengthen New Zealand’s supply-chain resilience and long-term certainty, POAL has obtained resource consent for channel dredging and ongoing maintenance work over the past six months. This will ensure it can service the larger ships expected to call during the coming years.

The company is also working with supply-chain partners such as KiwiRail, trucking companies, other ports and cargo owners to manage current congestion, which have been exacerbated by Cyclone Gabrielle.

“We’re in a good position and will be resuming berth windows in March 2023,” says Gray. “Our commitment to giving shipping companies agreed visit timings and container-exchange volumes requires close co-ordination with shipping lines and other key ports.

“There will be ongoing challenges to the return to berth windows because we’re still experiencing significant delays or congestion in other New Zealand and overseas ports, and as the North Island recovers from the cyclone.”

Daily sales drop

There were 11,445 used cars imported last month, a jump of 51.8 per cent from February when only 7,538 units crossed our borders. March’s figure was also up by 45.1 per cent from the same month a year earlier.

A total of 9,683 units were registered last month. This was 24.8 per cent more than 7,760 units in February this year but down 60.2 per cent from 24,337 in March 2022, which was the last month before the full clean car discount scheme began.

With 1,762 more used cars imported than registered last month, it brought unregistered stock to 13,601 units. This was 38 per cent higher than the 9,855 a year ago.

Average daily registrations dropped to 247 – down from 377 a year ago – and there is 55 days’ stock remaining.