Harbour Board reports $3M loss

Press, 16 December 1988, Page 2

Harbour Board reports $3M loss

By

PAM MORTON

Predictions of a difficult year for the Lyttelton Harbour Board were highlighted at yesterday’s annual meeting, with the board reporting a $3 million loss.

The chairman of the board, Mr George Wright, said his prediction that 1988 would be a difficult year for the port had proved correct. This year’s accounts for the year ended September 30 showed a loss of $3,091,900, compared with a profit of more than $2 million last year.

Mr Wright said the net deficit of $290,171 before extraordinary items represented a serious deterioration when compared with the previous year’s profit of $2,034,476. A big cost to the port was the $2,801,729 paid out to 58 employees who took voluntary severance earlier in the year. Revenue earned from port operations was down by nearly $1.2 million from the 1987 total of $35,806,458. The biggest drop in revenue came from engineering services ($1.2 million) and cargo services down by $l.l million.

On a question from Mrs Judy Waters as to why revenue from engineering services was down by half, the board’s secretary, Mr Tony Gemmill, said capital works in 1987 had accounted for the higher figure. Work this year had been mainly confined to maintenance and repair work. However, there was an upturn in revenue with container services earning

$1 million more than last year. Mr Wright said a highlight of the year for trade was the increasing number of containers being handled through the container terminal.

During the 12-month period to the end of September, 40,616 containers were handled, an increase of 11 per cent on the previous year. An increase l in cargo handled at the port was reported by the board’s general manager, Mr lan Brokenshire.

An extra 57,689 tonnes of cargo was handled, representing a 2.2 per cent increase from the 1987 total of 2,610,066 tonnes. The board’s corporate planning manager, Mr Peter Davie, said the high level of competition in the market place during the year had led to a significant amount of pressure on pricing and servicing for new trades. “While there has been a large amount of adverse public comment, an analysis of trade shows that we have in fact gained more than we have lost,” he said. Mr Davie said the port’s image had been severely tarnished throughout the year. Internal wrangling and a high news media profile had contributed to an extremely poor public perception of the port, Mr Davie said.