Bid to hold charges

Press, 30 April 1981, Page 6

Bid to hold charges

i The Lyttelton Harbour | Board , will attempt to ride out the rest of the current financial year without increasing its .. 'charges, although it recorded a net (deficit of slB9,ooo’*-for the (first five months. Much of that figure could be attributed to the strike by | British seamen, which afifected the-container trade in [January and February, said the general nianager (Mr J. A. McPhail): I. He , predicted that the [board could make up the j deficit without having to ini crease its port charges. The [last increase was 15 per cent jon January 1. [ Mr McPhail did not bellieve that his forecast was ; unrealistic, in spite of declin- [ ing trade- in all New Zealand [ports. ; “Economies have been [ made," he said, “The port is j having a very busy. April,” he ■ said.

! For March and April, con- ; tainer movements through Lyttelton have been above the budgeted total. Last month there were 2959, and the expectation [for : April, with only one day left in the month, was 2954/ compared with the budgeted figure of 1983.

Lyttelton's income for the first five months of 1980 was down almost $855,000 bn the budgeted total, but as a saving of $340,000 had been made on the estimated expenditure to that time, the net deficit was $189,000. According to the 1980 annual review, the board's port. operations recorded a loss in revenue of $912,609, for that year. The total before appropriation to reserves was $761,917, compared with $1,674,526 (1979). Mr Mannering said that no forecast had been made of the board's expected financial revenue at September 30, the end of this financial

; year, but he said that there was “no way” that’ it would record a loss comparable to. the projected figure for the Auckland Harbour Board. A Press Asssociation report said that the chairman of the Auckland board’s; finance committee (Mr Terry O’Dwyer) was expecting a loss of up to $2.5 million, unless its trading position improved. Trade in Auckland has slipped by $1.6 million for the first five months of its financial year. labour charges had become 70 per cent of the board’s costs, a comparable figure to Lyttelton.