The Port of Seattle, which has struggled in recent years with pay and spending issues, saw its operating income rise four percent and its capital spending drop significantly in 2011, according to a financial and performance report released March 6.
Port Commissioners and CEO Tay Yoshitani credited the numbers to a continued emphasis on cost control and increased efficiencies throughout the organization, among other factors.
“We’re pleased with these results, but the attention to controlling costs, particularly health care costs, must continue,” Yoshitani said.
The port, which also operates Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, maintains five divisions: Seaport, Aviation, Real Estate, Capital Development and Corporate.
Regarding the Seaport division, the highlights were that TEUs hit the two million mark in 2011, the second consecutive year for this to happen. Also, the port’s cruise business saw 885,949 passengers in 2011, which was 11 percent above the projected number.
Additionally, grain volumes were down 8.5 percent from 2010 and 8.6 percent compared to the budget; however, they still came in above five million metric tons for the seventh straight year.
The port’s operating income in 2011 was $215.1 million, $8.2 million above budget, and port-wide capital spending amounted to $200.1 million for the year, $87.1 million below the budgeted $287.2 million.
Overall 2011 operating revenues were about $484 million, roughly $9 million below budget, while total operating expenses were $268.7 million, about $17 million below budget.
“The best measure of an organization’s fiscal responsibility is how we manage financial resources when times are tough,” Commission President Gael Tarleton said. “The commission is responsible for stewarding public resources so that we can continue to invest in job creation and environmental programs, and we can only do that by managing the bottom line.”
