A day after it got the nod from the Shippers' Council as a logical port of call for bigger container ports Lyttelton Port of Christchurch (LPC) has reported a 1.1 percent fall in underlying earnings on a 5.3 percent rise in container volumes, the New Zealand Press Association reported.

      The port, which referred to itself as "the South Island port of choice", reported net profit after tax fell 10.4 percent to US$6.31 million in the year to June 30. But 60 percent of this was achieved in the second half, which was up 21 percent on a year ago.