Record ‘resurgent’ year for Marlborough port and airport

The return of cruise ships, travellers and open borders has helped Marlborough’s airport and port bounce back to pre-Covid numbers.

Port Marlborough and Marlborough Airport, the subsidiaries that sit under the Marlborough District Council’s parent company, MDC Holdings, both broke personal records in the 2022-23 financial year.

Port Marlborough NZ chairperson Warren McNabb told the council’s economic, finance and community on Tuesday the year had been “outstanding” after the company achieved record revenue.

“Obviously, when you have a record year, the next sentence is usually, it's going to be difficult to repeat,” McNabb said.

“Some of the results from last year were one-off items.

“We're also starting to experience, much like most of New Zealand, some economic headwinds.

“I'll put that as a breeze, not a howling Marlborough norwester at this stage, but we’re starting to see the higher interest rates beginning to bite.”

Revenue hit $41 million, the highest in over a decade, and up from $34.4m the previous year.

MDC Holdings, the port’s sole shareholder, received a total dividend of $4.4m.

Port Marlborough chief executive Rhys Welbourn said the increase in operations, like the return of cruise ships, and a busier fleet, meant carbon emissions at the port increased 10%.

“But we have a plan for that,” Welbourn said.

That plan was to transform the port’s commercial forest into a permanent “carbon sink”.

To achieve this, the port had shifted from pine plantings to native and hardwood varieties.

Meanwhile, he said 70% of the port’s costs were fixed, and those costs were rising.

“Insurance alone has increased 40% this year.”

Forestry exports started strong, Welbourn added, but volumes softened by the end of the financial year.

“Our main export destination is China, and there's been a reduction in demand.

“There are signs of that picking up, but it's still uncertain.”

Marlborough Airport finance manager Adrian Ferris said the 2022-23 financial year had been “resurgent”.

“We are dependent on passenger numbers, it drives everything,” Ferris said.

“Like most airports, we are working on ways of diversifying and removing that risk factor. What Covid did is it really highlighted our dependency on passenger numbers.

“But fortunately, this year, there was a rebound, in fact, we were back to pre-Covid numbers, and we were one of the only regions in the country to achieve that in 2023.”

The airport achieved record revenue, at $4.7m, but Ferris said profit was “modest” at just under $40,000.

“There are some factors which are not reflected in that profit,” he said.

“Things such as runway reseals, which have a really big impact on the books, and in some ways not a true reflection on its profitability.”

The airport last year posted an after-tax loss of $568,000, which at the time was described as a “record in the wrong direction”.

The airport’s debt had been forecast to close at $5.5m at the end of the 2023 financial year, but ended up at $3.02m, its annual report said.

Marlborough deputy mayor David Croad said it was a fantastic result for the airport.

The numbers:

1,041,627 passengers through the port
47 cruise ship visits
771,137 logs exported
97% berth occupancy
3156 total ship visits
318,517 airport passengers