Andrew von Dadelszen Former Regional Councillor

Since 2008, we have all experienced some of the hardest financial times – second only to the Great Depression – and yet Port of Tauranga has just announced another stunning result.

Year in, year out, this company has produced outstanding results – making it the darling of the New Zealand sharemarket.

Net Profit After Tax is up a further 17.2 per cent to $57.9m – this on top of a 9.3 per cent increase the previous year. On average, it has improved its profitability 10.2 per cent annually over the last four years and this at a time where cargo throughput only increased 5.3 per cent annually – including containers, which increased 6.9 per cent.

This shows the Port's profits are productivity driven, not just volume driven. Tauranga can be rightly proud to be the home of Port of Tauranga and ratepayers benefit hugely from Bay of Plenty Regional Council's 54.94 per cent shareholding.

There is a lesson here for both local government and business in general – and that is ‘KISS' – keep it simply stupid. Port of Tauranga concentrates on its core competencies and does them well. It is basically a ‘clip the ticket' operation that performs outstandingly well year in, year out.

If you have a view on these or any other local government issues email andrew@vond.co.nz