Economic-Financial Situation

The billing of rates came to €40.65 million compared to €40.83 million in 2018. The rest of the turnover, which stood at €4.48 million, consisted of revenue from tariff services, which fell by 2.48%, mainly due to the drop in the surface occupancy and cleaning on wharves, in accordance with the drop of solid bulk traffic, which was offset by the tariffs related to dredging the private wharves and use of the RO-RO ramp.

68.28% of net revenue was accounted for by usage fees and tariffs, as a more direct reflection of the situation of traffic flows. An influence is also exerted by variables other than volume, such as the nature of goods, the presentation format, types of ships and the berths or docks used, and the remaining 31.72%, which is more fixed, is accounted for by occupancy charges and activities in relation to the public port domain, although the activity charge for occupancy in some concessions, such as goods terminals, is also affected by flows of traffic. The user charges, more related to port traffic, dropped by 0.49%, down to €25.99 million 2019 from €26.13 million in the previous year, but remained at 9.98% over the forecasts for the year, when the application of discounts and reduction coefficients were taken into consideration but which were not implemented due to the failure to approve the Budget Act.

The activity and occupancy rates related to the Port Public Domain posted a volume of €14.31 million in 20197, 20.52% down to the €14.39 million invoiced in 2018.

The Other Operating Revenue heading fell by 9.89% (€2.72 million) and special mention should be made of the drop in the billing for non-fulfilment of traffic minimums, where items pending from previous years were invoiced in 2018.

In addition to the income already mentioned, some mention must be made of financial income, featuring revenue generated by cash positions, although this also contains late-payment interest, enforcement interest, deferrals or loans. The first item has been adversely affected by lower interest rates paid out by financial institutions, in the wake of the European Central Bank’s monetary policy to stimulate the European economy by attempting to inject more liquidity into the financial system. If inflation recovers in addition to this factor, spending power will fall, and this situation will be difficult to rectify, given the difficulties of public authorities in general, and the Port Authority in particular, to undertake risks at the present time.

As regards the operating costs generated, including repayments, totalled €42.45 million, compared to €45.86 million in 2018, down 7.43%, mainly due to the Repairs & Upkeep heading and Other Current Management Outlays within Other Operating Costs, which in 2018 included the costs incurred by the storms that ravaged Huelva’s coast at the start of the year.

With respect to the approved budget, the Staff Costs heading was cut by 6.76%, down to the failure to cover the places envisaged, and the Other Operating costs heading fell 16.72%, with that difference due to the delay in approving the reviewed budget and the non-execution of planned actions, such as upgrading the Tharsis Wharf.

It should be pointed out that the interport compensation fund contributed was 1,210,000.00 euros, and the amount received was 263,000.00 euros, producing a net contribution of 947,000.00 euros booked under operating expenditure. Adding in provision for Corporation Tax, the final profit for the year stood at 4.08 million euros, compared to 10.99 million euros the previous year.

The targeted annual return, where the income and costs distorting the result are excluded was 2.69%, slightly lower on the 3.05% of the previous year, despite the rise in the result for the year, as the heading for repairing the storm damage was excluded when calculating the 2018 return.

Cash ratios demonstrate a solid capacity to service debt, especially the immediate cash ratio to cover current liabilities, which stands at 7.57, when the recommended ratio would be between 0.5 and 1, with sufficient cash available to cover short-term liabilities with no excesses, to prevent idle resources. The ratio is so high because the cash available is being placed with short-term facilities because no long-term financial products that meet the Port Authority’s requirements are available. Of the 170.48  million euros in cash at year-end 2019, available or short-term positions accounted for 149.82 million euros. This circumstance meant that in 2019, when revenue from operations totalled 20.81 million euros, working capital increased by 1.23 million euros to 147.47 million euros.

The ratio of operating expenditure against operating income in 2019 was 87.36%, excluding the compensation fund and bad debts. For future years, in due consideration of payoffs on any new investment, this ratio is tending to increase. EBITA will remain at similar levels over the years covered by the Business Plan, however, as a guarantee of financial stability.

It should also be pointed out that the balance sheet conveys an image of a solid position of finance and assets. Fixed assets are financed in full by own funds and there is no long-term or short-term debt other than that arising from the company’s normal course of business. The company has no problem meeting its payment commitments, and any debt is that arising from its normal course of business. It also complies with the average 30-day period of payments to suppliers, as stipulated in the law on payment defaults.