Napier Port Holdings Ltd Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Wade Gardiner - Craigs Investment Partners - Analyst : Hi, guys. Just a few questions from me. First of all, on maintenance CapEx, if we go back to a couple of years to say that what you're talking about with the respect to a number of sort of around that 12 or 13 mill mark and that's been lower for the last few years and you're sort of indicating that it will remain lower as you defer some projects. So what should we expect, therefore, beyond this year, is it going to be a period of catch-up where we're going to have materially more than that sort of 12 or 13 mill level?

Question: Wade Gardiner - Craigs Investment Partners - Analyst : So is it, call it 12 or 13 mill level still a reasonable estimate of sort of the long-term through the cycle number?

Question: Wade Gardiner - Craigs Investment Partners - Analyst : Okay. Given the timing of Pan Pac sort of coming on, I mean, the timber mill in January, the pulp mill in February, and then for the fully operational late '24, can you give us sort of indication of what sort of volumes you're expecting through Port Pac for next year?

Question: Wade Gardiner - Craigs Investment Partners - Analyst : Okay. And quarter four trend shipments, very low, which I assume is just some of the shipping changes of it -- being changed and therefore, what should we expect for going into next year for transshipments?

Question: Wade Gardiner - Craigs Investment Partners - Analyst : So would the quarter four number be a reasonable proxy of what to expect related to the drop of classes below in 6,000, 6,000, 5,000, and nearly 600 -- under 1,000 in quarter four.

Question: Wade Gardiner - Craigs Investment Partners - Analyst : And one more question, just I'll hand it over to others. What's the status of the trials, the log loading using the mobile harbor cranes?

Question: Wade Gardiner - Craigs Investment Partners - Analyst : Right. Okay. That's all for me. Thanks.

Question: Andy Bowley - Forsyth Barr - Analyst : Thanks very much and good morning, guys. Todd, your closing remarks. You were optimistic when you were talking about FY24. Can you talk about FY25 though, and particularly with regards to the goal of increasing your EBITDA by 50% from FY20. Is that still realistic, can, from what you see, from a volume backdrop, can you reach that kind of EBITDA target within the next couple of years?

Question: Andy Bowley - Forsyth Barr - Analyst : And if you were to just point out any particular risks and besides just volume generally, what particular trades do you think would be the biggest risk in terms of you achieving that?

Question: Andy Bowley - Forsyth Barr - Analyst : Yeah. Good stuff. Second question on tariffs. I recognize the tariffs schedule is up on the website for this year, but can you talk about what you anticipate the ARPU type increases for this year based on tariffs, but also on all the trade that's off tariffs.

Question: Andy Bowley - Forsyth Barr - Analyst : And in terms of the reference to more challenging natural, that's in respect of what just lower cost inflation or just some more pushback from some customer base?

Question: Andy Bowley - Forsyth Barr - Analyst : Yeah. And just one aspect of the pricing architecture that the infrastructure levy, is there any scope for you to be able to change that in any way in the absence of spending further infrastructure idea that you're going to have the local social license to be able to do anything on that in future without spending more?

Question: Andy Bowley - Forsyth Barr - Analyst : Yeah. Okay. Last question from me on the cost side of things. As you mentioned in the press, though, we've seen stability in terms of OpEx for the last three, six-month periods. What can we expect in terms of some OpEx with the volume recovery here? Recognized there's a fair amount of fixed costs in the pool, but maybe if you could just talk to the fixed variable split and what you anticipate in terms of cost growth, assuming you hit volume the expectations over the next 12 months?

Question: Andy Bowley - Forsyth Barr - Analyst : But is it reasonable to assume that we're going to see a continued stability with the volume recovery?

Question: Andy Bowley - Forsyth Barr - Analyst : Okay (multiple speakers)

Question: Jonathan Davis - ACC - Analyst : Good morning, Todd and team. Well done on a good result in trying circumstances. Just on the container ship business. Surprise they were up despite container volumes being down. Can you sort of talk through the cause of that a bit more and what you're expecting in terms of average exchange going into '24?

Question: Jonathan Davis - ACC - Analyst : Okay. In terms of average exchange, I would say that it would be to normalize at a lower level because of more frequent ships coming in?

Question: Jonathan Davis - ACC - Analyst : Yeah. Okay and also on the fertilizer imports. Other ports have seen a decline in this with lower sheep and beef pricing. But you had a bit of a tick-up. Is there any reason behind this? Or have you seen it drop away post results?

Question: Jonathan Davis - ACC - Analyst : Okay. That is it for me. Thanks.