The owner of the Ports of Auckland has upped its interim payout to the Auckland Regional Council by 15.9% after returning to profitability in the last six months of 2009.

Auckland Regional Holdings (ARH) – the commercial arm of the regional council with a $1 billion portfolio of assets – revealed today that it  paid out $74.3 million to the council in the six months ended December, up from $64.1 million in the last half of 2008.

It also recorded a net profit for the half year of $31.7 million, well ahead of the budgeted $13.2 million.

The government and Auckland Regional Council are going halves in the $40 million purchase of Queens Wharf from Ports of Auckland.

The deal, announced this afternoon, will see the port vacate the wharf by April 1 next year.

It will be developed as a public venue for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, and will also house an international standard cruise ship terminal, which Ports of Auckland will operate.

QC Gary Judd has put out a statement detailing his controversial sacking from the board of struggling Ports of Auckland, by the port's council-controlled owner.

Auckland Regional Holdings, which owns the port and in turn provides funding to its owner Auckland Regional Council for transport projects, sent Mr Judd a letter earlier this month asking him to resign.

Sea+City, development manager of the $2 billion 18.5-ha waterfront site Wynyard Quarter, is seeking private investment in addition to existing public funding for part of the site along with moving the design process ahead and clearing tanks.

Just over 1.2-ha at Site 18, the marine-industry portion of the development on the Western edge of the site will be available on leases up to 90 years to private investors.