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Record Achievements Mark Port Marlborough’s 2023 Financial Year

Port Marlborough is delighted to share highlights from a record-breaking 2023, through the recently released Annual Report, which shows significant progress made across strategic targets of people, planet, prosperity, and partnerships – the four foundational pillars that continue to drive our strategy of sustainable growth and development.

Highlights

Revenue – $41M (+19%)

EBITDA – $21M (+30%)

Dividend – $4.4M (+19%)

Passengers through port – 1,041,627 (+55.3%)

Vessel Visits >500GRT – 3,156 (+11.9%)

People

Our people are our greatest asset, and the year held a continued focus on Health and Safety, with the launch of the inaugural Wellbeing Calendar, underscoring our commitment to the well being of our team. Every staff member now earns at or above the Living Wage Aotearoa standards, and significant progress was made on People & Culture programmes including introduction of new policies, and the establishment of a new role –  GM People and Culture.

Planet

We continue to deliver against environmental sustainability targets, reporting on these through our Sustainability Scorecard. Over the course of the year we have initiated a project transforming the port’s commercial forest into a permanent carbon sink, and invested in more recycling facilities in our marinas to offer our marina customers more environmentally friendly options for their vessel waste. We also appointed a new Environmental Manager.

Prosperity

The financial year marked a significant rebound in prosperity, with the return of cruise ships injecting a much-needed boost into the Marlborough tourism economy following a two-year hiatus of Cruise due to the pandemic. The company’s new marina, Waikawa North West provides an additional 251 berths for the region’s boating public, and the introduction of new marina management software streamlined customer experience across the marinas portfolio.

The port achieved record revenue, topping $41 million for the first time and resulting in a record EBITDA of $21 million. Marlborough District Council Holdings Ltd, the port’s sole shareholder has received a total distribution of $4.4 million for 2023, the highest in over a decade.

Partnerships

Community engagement was enhanced with $133K of sponsorships to the Marlborough community and schools, and through the Port Marlborough Sounds Discovery Fund, supporting primary schools in the province with their outdoor learning in the Sounds.

The port’s commitment to Kairangatira / delivering excellence was reinforced through numerous commercial partnerships, including with KiwiRail on the Picton Ferry precinct redevelopment (iReX) project, and with Centreport Wellington Ltd, on the Marlborough Inland Hub Ltd, a new development in Riverlands providing Marlborough exporters a more direct route to market.

Looking Ahead

The port’s ongoing investment in people, infrastructure, and communities will provide sustainable triple bottom line dividends for the Marlborough region. The team are excited about the journey towards becoming an environmentally restorative port and are sincerely appreciative of the continued support received over the year from staff, customers, community and iwi.

For more detailed information, please refer to the 2023 Annual Report.

https://portmarlborough.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/PM-AR23-lowres.pdf