LPC Releases Annual Results For Financial Year 2023

Financial Year 2023 has been a year of challenges and successes for Lyttelton Port Company as we continue to drive to become an efficient, safe, and sustainable profitable port.

“While we have seen challenging market conditions, we have also continued to see a strong health and safety focus and positive revenue growth,” says LPC Chair Barry Bragg.

Revenue grew by just over 12% year-on-year to $181.7m, while net profit after tax (NPAT) remained the same as FY22 at $18.9m.

LPC recorded its second largest number of TEUs for FY23 at 455,457, but down 9.3% on FY22.

“The decline in TEU resulted from a number of factors: the impact of international and domestic economic conditions, labour pressures in our container terminal, and the loss of part of our berth length during the construction of our replacement ship-to-shore crane. The crane assembly was completed in June and provides flexibility for the Port’s operations and maintenance schedule,” says Barry.

The total value of exports out of Lyttelton rose 4% to $8.96b, while imports grew by over 10% to $6.6b.

“Throughout FY23, we have seen a significant increase in health and safety interactions and critical control checks, demonstrating a step change in proactively managing health and safety,” says Barry.

“LPC has also continued to play its part in the industry-wide collaborative work led by Maritime New Zealand, implemented following the tragic loss of Don Grant at LPC on Anzac Day 2022.”

This resulted in charges laid against LPC, and we continue to work through that process.

“We have welcomed the initiatives that have come from that work and will work with industry partners and unions to improve the safety of our industry.”

“Don’s family and workmates continue to be in our thoughts, and we remain committed to ensuring his memory is maintained and that the safety of our industry is lifted through what we learn from the tragedy,” says Barry.

LPC CEO Graeme Sumner says the steady NPAT figure was predominantly as a result of the decision to remove derelict inner harbour jetties at Lyttelton for environmental, and health and safety reasons.

“These jetties were a potential breeding ground for Mediterranean Fanworm Sabella Spallanzanii, threatening the wider ecosystem of Whakaraupō/Lyttelton Harbour,” says Graeme.

In other trades, bulk tonnage increased 7%, up 250,605t to 3,766,347t in FY23. Strong growth was seen in coal, up 15% to 1,360,410t, and fuel, up 9.2% to 1,056,663t. Logs also saw a slight uplift, up 2.3% to 449,143t.

Dry bulk was flat at 818,000t, a slight decrease of 1.7%. Cars proved to be the trade most affected by economic conditions, with numbers imported declining 23% year on year, to 45,673.

October 2022 saw the return of large cruise vessels to Lyttelton for the first time since the Christchurch earthquakes. LPC constructed and completed New Zealand’s first purpose-built cruise berth in 2019, with cruise ships returning after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The cruise season saw 120,000 passengers call at Lyttelton, substantially boosting the Canterbury region's economy. However, the impact of passenger numbers on Lyttelton township needs to be managed, and we are working with the community, ChristchurchNZ, Christchurch City Council, Environment Canterbury and cruise lines to ensure the impact of the return of these vessels is minimised as much as possible,” says Graeme.

LPC’s carbon emissions were down from FY22, at 9422 tCO2e. This was a 12.6% reduction from FY18, the base year, and a 1.6% reduction on FY22.

This year, we have reviewed and redeveloped our Emissions Reduction Plan to analyse the initiatives required to achieve near-term science-based emission reduction targets for Scope 1 emissions.

“In FY24, we will combine this work with our long-term capital planning to achieve science-based emissions reduction targets,” says Graeme.

Becoming Biodiversity Positive remains a key goal for LPC. In FY23, we continued to work on identifying port activities that impact nature, using the Science-Based Targets for Nature framework.

“Nature Positive consultancy and Te Hapū o Ngāti Wheke as mana whenua have assisted our progress to date, and we look forward to continuing these relationships,” says Graeme.

Investment in infrastructure continues to be a priority for LPC. In FY23, we completed a three-year, $85 million Eastern Development expansion project, increased the container terminal to 25 hectares, doubled refrigerated container storage and added new truck receipt and dispatch lanes.

LPC commenced multi-million-dollar projects to upgrade and redevelop existing infrastructure. This included the Inner Harbour, CityDepot and the tug Blackadder. These upgrades focused on improving operational efficiencies, environmental compliance and health and safety.

“LPC is the South Island's major maritime gateway and a critical part of New Zealand's international supply chain, facilitating trade for the South Island and beyond. As a result, we take our commitment to ensure that we invest in the infrastructure required to keep the South Island moving seriously,” says Graeme.

Barry Bragg says the Port remains focused on the future.

“The coming year continues to present challenges, with cost pressures still in play and volumes likely to be still affected by global and domestic economic conditions. We will continue to focus on ensuring we maintain a prudent level of profitability for our shareholders while continuing to be able to deliver on our key purpose of facilitating trade for Canterbury and the South Island,” says Barry.

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