Profit of Australian rail and port operator Asciano dipped in its fiscal first half due to extra costs in the redevelopment of a major port in Sydney, and as weak domestic growth weighed on some of its divisions.
Melbourne-based Asciano said that net profit dropped 4.6 percent to US$169.3 million in the six months to December 31, reported Dow Jones Newswires.
The company reported material costs of $2.44 million compared to one-off gains of $15.47 million in the year-earlier period after delays to its Port Botany expansion project when equipment needed for the project was damaged during a storm as it was shipped to Australia from Europe.
Asciano said it now expected to finish the project in the first quarter of 2015, compared to an earlier deadline of mid-2014.
Also hurting company earnings has been a slowdown in Australia's economy, as a cooling mining investment boom weighs on growth.
Asciano reported a 20 percent decline in earnings before interest and taxes in its PN Rail division, which hauls goods like grain and construction materials.
Still, the company has been largely bucking a downturn in the nation's coal industry, signing new contracts even as coal prices plunged to multiyear lows.
Asciano said it expected to report low single-digit growth in underlying profits for the full year through June. It had in September forecast flat profits for the period.
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