Port of Tauranga and Turners Auctions yesterday announced financial results that indicated the improvements taking place in the economy, Craigs Investment Partners broker Peter McIntyre said.
Port of Tauranga's record profit after tax of $57.9 million for the year ended June was on the back of a 12.4% increase in the volume of trade across the wharves, and a 15% rise in container volumes, he said.
"Port of Tauranga is positioning itself to be the premium port in New Zealand, able to cater for the super-container ships coming to the country in the next two to three years."
Turners had been affected by the slowing of imports of Japanese used cars because of the tsunami earlier this year. However, trading had improved in the second quarter of the six months ended June, thanks to the good performance of its commercial and trucks businesses, Mr McIntyre said.
Turners' profit for the six months to June was up 12% to $1.6 million. An interim dividend of 5c per share was declared, along with a special dividend of 6cps.
Port of Tauranga declared a final dividend of 21cps.
Both companies had been good providers of dividends for shareholders, he said.
Earlier results for Port of Tauranga were on the strength of a global economy and were seen as a proxy for New Zealand's agricultural sector.
The recent increase was on the back of increased exports of kiwifruit, logs and dairy products.
"It is hard to invest in our agricultural sector on the NZX, which is surprising given the importance of the sector to our economy. Port of Tauranga provides that opportunity," Mr McIntyre said.
Port of Tauranga chief executive Mark Cairns said Port of Tauranga would continue to develop its Auckland freight village at MetroPort and work with its customers to create supply-chain efficiencies.
The company was investing in the infrastructure necessary to accommodate larger vessels and increased traffic.
Five new container services had been announced for Tauranga in the past few months and the port had increasingly been used as a hub port.
That would have a positive effect on future container volumes, he said.
Turners' chief executive Graham Roberts said his company's positive result reflected a solid performance for Turners' trucks and commercial businesses, off the back of large receivership sales in the contracting and construction sector, and growth of 12% in the Turners finance ledger.
The finance ledger has grown to $19.3 million since June 2010.
"This growth, and the strength of add-on sales of insurance products to vehicle sales, has resulted in continued growth in operating profit from this division of the business." With reduced availability of imports from Japan, and diminished demand from the public in the present economic environment, the used-car business remained challenging, he said.
The overall supply of used vehicles was becoming more constrained, resulting in the supply lines to which Turners had access becoming more valuable.
The 12% increase in net profit came despite total revenue being down 3% to $34.9 million, due to a reduction in the sale of imports, Mr Roberts said.
