Southampton port revenue falls by 1.1%
Page 17

If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
POOR TRADING IN British shops has been blamed for a fall in the number of containers passing through Southampton port.
In its annual results Associated British Ports (ABP) attributes a 1.1% fall in revenue at Southampton partly to shops needing less stock because of slow business.
But despite the drop in Southampton's revenue, other ports in the group have increased business — and pre-tax profit at ABP last year was up 2% to El 32.3m (from £130.2m in 2004). South Wales ports have boosted revenue by 7.5% thanks to strong demand for coal and iron ore imports. and there have also been revenue increases at Hull and Goole (2%), and at Grimsby and Immingham (2.2%).
Total cargo handled at ABP's UK ports is up by 4.3% to 134.8 million tonnes (from 129.3 million tonnes in 2004).
Group chief executive Bo Lereni us expects to see increased growth in the UK ports business in the second half of 2006.