Revenue, earnings before interest and tax (ebit) and after-tax profit were all flat for the period.
Revenue was down 11% to $98.7 million, ebit was the same as last year at $52.7 million and underlying after-tax profit was similar to last year at $38.5 million.
Total tonnage for the six months to December 2015 was up 1.1% to 10.1 million tonnes, and container volumes rose 10.4% to 470,928 TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units).
Dairy export volumes rose 29% and kiwifruit exports were up by 22.9%, while logs reduced 2.4 million tonnes from 2.8 million tonnes a year earlier.
Imports increased by 1.6% and exports increased 0.8%.
POT chairman David Pilkington said the port had delivered a strong six-month result, especially in the face of the decline in log export volumes.
"Our strategy of extending the port's freight catchment across New Zealand continues to deliver results for shareholders and the country's exporters and importers,'' he said yesterday.
POT shares were up 0.5% at $18.15 following the announcement.
Forsyth Barr broker Suzanne Kinnaird said the flat result was "in line with expectations'', noting POT had retained for the fourth consecutive year financial guidance of a $79 million full-year profit.
Craigs Investment Partners broker Peter McIntyre also said the result met expectations, and maintained a neutral outlook for 2016, with expectations of a log recovery late in 2017.
"While at the back end of first-half 2016 log prices showed some recovery, it is expected to come off and remain subdued for some time. This is likely a two-year trend in weak logs,'' he said.
Mrs Kinnaird said given POT expected the arrival of larger ships in 2017, the outlook was more important for the next financial year.
"With the arrival of bigger ships ... we continue to expect a material step-up in profitability during full-year 2017,'' she said.
POT declared an interim 23c dividend, up 4.6% on last year.
POT chief executive Mark Cairns said dredging specialist Rohde Nielsen was more than a third of the way through dredging Tauranga Harbour's shipping channels to a depth of 14.5m inside the harbour entrance and 15.8m outside the harbour entrance.
"It is on track to complete the work under budget and ahead of schedule in July,'' he said.
With the channel dredging proceeding well, Mr Cairns said POT was on track to complete contractual commitments with freight and logistics management company Kotahi by July, under which larger vessels would start to call by the end of 2016.
"This is the final building block in our five-year $350 million investment programme to prepare for larger ships, which have the potential to deliver annual savings of as much as $300 million to New Zealand shippers,'' he said.
