“Thanks to the resilience of the Port business and infrastructure, built up over a number of years, and the commitment of its people, the Port and our inland port CityDepot kept operating with minimal downtime,” said LPC Chairman Rodger Fisher.
“The Company sincerely appreciates the support shown by all our customers and staff.”
The Canterbury region suffered a 7.1 earthquake on 4 September 2010, 6.3 on 22 February 2011 and 6.3 on 13 June 2011.
“After each earthquake event, critical Port services were restored within 96 hours. This is a fantastic achievement given the magnitude of destruction throughout Canterbury,” Mr Fisher said.
Te Awaparahi Bay Reclamation
With the need for additional land, the Company applied for and obtained emergency consents for the 10-hectare Te Awaparahi Bay Reclamation to the east of Cashin Quay. The project is providing an environmentally sensible disposal area for clean demolition hard-fill that would otherwise go to landfill. This solution is saving Christchurch people and businesses over $100 million in dumping fees, and is saving the Port many millions of dollars on quarrying and transporting rock.
The reclamation is now larger than a football field. It will be completed in four stages over two years, and the first stage is expected to be ready for vehicles and logs within a year. The new land will need time to settle before it can be used for container storage.
Financial Results
The Company achieved an earthquake-adjusted profit after tax of $12.1 million for the year ended June 2011. This is compared with $9.0 million the previous year, an increase of 34.4%.
“This after-tax result is proof of the underlying strength of the business and reflects solid business growth, particularly in container and coal volumes,” Mr Fisher said.
Earthquake-adjusted revenues totalled $93.7 million, up 7.3% from $87.3 million the previous year.
The statutory consolidated result, which includes earthquake effects such as additional costs, insurance proceeds and revenues lost, is an after-tax profit of $24.1 million, with revenues of $91.6 million.
Write-downs of Port assets as a result of the earthquakes and aftershocks totalled $29 million.