Hampton Roads port traffic, revenue rise

Port revenue and container traffic were up in Hampton Roads for the first four months of the new fiscal year, but signs point to slower global-shipping growth from January to June.

"Something that really is going to impact U.S. trade and certainly our business, too, is the holiday season," Russell Held, the Virginia Port Authority's deputy executive director/development, said at a meeting of the authority's Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.

If it isn't a good retail season, the business that's been increasing will stagnate, Held said. "And we may see some slowdown there and in the country as a whole."

Combined financial results for the Port Authority and Virginia International Terminals Inc., the private, tax-exempt affiliate that runs the state-owned terminals, showed operating revenue from July 1 through Oct. 31 rose about 39.5 percent, to $94.5 million from $67.7 million in the same period a year ago.

This is the first year that the authority's and VIT's combined financial statement includes operations at APM Terminals in Portsmouth, which the authority leased earlier this year.

Container traffic from July through October rose 7.7 percent from a year earlier, to 657,591 20-foot containers, up from 610,399 in the same period last year.

While total operating revenue was up, so were total operating expenses, which jumped about 38.6 percent to $95.9 million for the July through October period, up from $69.2 million in the same period a year ago.

Increased expenses tied to the shift of cargo from Portsmouth Marine Terminal to APM Terminals as well as slightly higher than expected operating costs at APM contributed to the overall cost increase.

General and administrative expenses for the four-month period rose to $23.6 million, a nearly 90 percent increase from $12.46 million in the same period last year.

"The increase from prior year is primarily due to increase of personnel and rental expenses associated with the APM terminal lease," according to VPA/VIT's combined financial statement.

In a series of closed sessions, the board discussed this fiscal year's compensation plan for authority Executive Director Jerry Bridges, a proposed lease of the Port of Richmond, and a possible imtermodal project, involving the shipment of truck trailers and shipping containers.

The only action taken was to approve Bridges' pay plan, which adjusts the performance benchmarks used to calculate any incentive pay for which he'll be eligible. His base pay of $301,600 was not changed. Bridges can receive up to $90,480 a year in incentive pay, if certain measures are met.

The authority considered a draft lease of the Port of Richmond. It would involve a series of five-year options and an annual payment of $75,000, Bridges said.

The Port of Richmond, on the James River south of downtown, is owned by the city of Richmond and managed by the Port of Richmond Commission. It is operated by PCI of Virginia LLC, a private company, but PCI's contract expires Nov. 30.

Robert McCabe, (757) 446-2327, robert.mccabe@pilotonline.com