South Port New Zealand Limited Analysis

Overview

South Port is the southernmost commercial port in New Zealand, located at Bluff and operating on a year-round, 24 hour basis. It is situated in the highly productive province of Southland which is responsible for producing a sizeable proportion of New Zealand's total exports by value.

The company was established in October 1988 when it acquired $23m of assets from the Southland Harbour Board. Stock exchange listing was achieved in July 1994 after 6.48m shares owned by the Southland Regional Council were offered to the public at $1.10 each. A share buy-back was undertaken in 2000 and the Southland Regional Council now owns 66.48% of the shares in the company.

South Port is governed by a board of six independent directors. It is the only Southland-based company listed on NZX. It is also one of the major employers in the region, employing over 80 full time equivalent staff.

From its base on the 40 hectare (100 acre) man-made Island Harbour, South Port is proud to provide a full range of marine services, cargo and container shipping, and on-site warehousing for domestic and international customers. The port is ideally situated to service Southland's significant export and import industries including aluminium, timber, fisheries, dairy, meat, wood chips, stock food, cement, alumina, fertiliser and petroleum products. The port handles over 2.5 million tonnes of import and export cargo in a normal trading year.

SPN has been granted Listing with a 'Non-Standard' ("NS") designation. This designation was granted because under the Port Companies Act 1988, changes to SPN's Constitution must be approved by the Minister of Transport. For further information, please see the Port Companies Act 1988 which is publicly available at www.legislation.govt.nz.

Performance

The following information was extracted from South Port New Zealand Limited's Full year results, released 22 August 2025

Record profit highlights resilience and infrastructure strength

South Port (NZX: SPN) has delivered a record net profit after tax for FY25, underpinned by strong bulk and stable container volumes, which more than offset reduced activity at the Tiwai wharf. Meanwhile, investment in infrastructure, supply chain resilience and a diversified cargo base continue to position the Company strongly for growth going forward.

FY25 Highlights

• Bulk cargo volumes: up 12.5% to 3.0 MT; revenue per MT up 4% to $13.80

• Container volumes: up 1% to 52,300 TEU; revenue per TEU up 29%

• Tiwai volumes: down 20% to 811k tonnes

• Total revenue: up 13% to $63.3m from $56.1m in pcp

• EBITDA: up 21% to $25.8m from $21.3m in pcp

• EBITDA margin: up 300bps to 41% from 38% in pcp

• Record NPAT: up 81% to $13.3m from $7.4m in pcp

• Operating free cash flow: up 97% to $16.9m from $8.6m in pcp

• Debt/EBITDA: 1.0x down from 1.6x in pcp

• Dividend per share: 28.0 cps (fully imputed), payout ratio of 55% of NPAT

Financial Performance

South Port’s total revenue increased 13% to $63.3m, underpinned by record volumes and the full-year implementation of the Kia Whakaū infrastructure levy. Bulk revenue grew by $8.3m to $30.3m, while container revenue also lifted by $3.3m to $13.9m supported by rate and activity increases. Tiwai revenue was consistent despite a drop in volumes, due to fixed contractual components.

Operating costs increased by 7%, reflecting inflationary pressures, additional compliance, and increased maintenance in the marine and infrastructure sectors. Despite this, operating leverage improved on stronger volumes, resulting in a 21% rise in EBITDA to $25.8m and a higher EBITDA margin of 41% (FY24: 38%).

A record NPAT result, up 81% to $13.3m, reflecting the strong operational result and lower interest and tax costs.

Return on assets improved to 18.6% from 15.9%, and operating free cash flow almost doubled to $16.9m. Gross debt reduced by $5m to $31m, leaving headroom for future investment and reducing the debt/EBITDA ratio to 1.0x.