Asciano, which appointed a new chief executive earlier this month to revive its flat share price, said the overall outlook was sound but floods in Queensland state and infrastructure congestion in New South Wales state would impact its coal operations.
"Despite this, the benefits of contractual provisions and the continuing ramp up in Queensland will see continued growth in earnings," the company said in a statement.
Asciano said net profit for the six months ending Dec. 31 was A$93.9 million ($94.8 million) up from A$79.1 million a year earlier. This compares to some analyst forecasts of around A$112 million.
Asciano earlier this month appointed former DHL Express chief John Mullen as its new chief executive, dumping founding boss Mark Rowsthorn.
Asciano, which competes with recently-listed QR National for valuable coal haulage contracts, is also one of Australia's two big port operators.
The company was listed as a spin-off from logistics firm Toll Holdings and was forced to sell shares at a deep discount to meet its debt obligations during the global credit crisis.
Asciano it would pay a fully franked interim dividend of 1.0 cent per share.
The coal division grew earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) by 36 percent, while EBITDA at it container ports business rose 1.2 percent with revenues falling due to customer contract losses. (Reuters)
