Puertos del Estado revealed that the public body’s consolidated asset closed 2024 at €733,530,478.73, a measure of the financial muscle that consolidates the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Port Authority in the Mid-Atlantic. The strength of this balance is underpinned by an unprecedented patrimonial expansion over the last decade. The port institution’s own funds climbed to a historic milestone. For the first time, its net equity topped €600 million, reaching €601,940,437.46 at the end of the fiscal year, up substantially from €586,648,466.98 in the previous period.
Accounting developments since 2015 show a process of accumulating extraordinary reserves. In that year, the entity started with net equity of €524,902,504.26. Subsequent years reinforced the upward trend, with €531,912,732.37 in 2016 and €554,393,425.67 in 2017. The organization’s equity withstood the turmoil of the pre-pandemic years, standing at €556,415,553.48 in 2018 and €566,008,904.15 in 2019. The temporary setback recorded during the global impact of 2020, when net equity fell to €533,136,466.32, was followed by a robust recovery in institutional solvency. Own funds increased consecutively to €551,422,180.27 in 2021 and €586,599,047.72 in 2022, before the final push toward the €600 million threshold recorded at the close of the latest annual accounts for 2024.
The engine of operating income
Board growth is supported by dynamic commercial performance across the terminals in the western Canary Islands province. Turnover rose to €56,112,254.57 in 2024, a peak figure that far exceeds the €50,389,301.45 billed in 2023. The reactivation of maritime services and the recovery of activity and passenger fees contrast with the low point scenario of 2015, when revenues stood at €38,745,347.99.
The historical series shows an upward path that was interrupted at the start of the decade by navigation restrictions. Port revenues moved from €43,460,745.62 in 2016 to €47,661,806.19 in 2017, stabilizing at €46,516,319.33 in 2018 and €47,333,465.68 in 2019. The pandemic reduced billing for the activity to €38,434,646.43 in 2020. The subsequent recovery required notable management efforts to break back above the €50 million threshold, reaching €50,607,333.36 in 2021 and €51,975,623.52 in 2022.
The year-on-year change in total assets follows this evolution in the generated wealth. The Port Authority asset, which in 2015 stood at €668,271,950.30, has gone through successive phases of ongoing investment in breakwater infrastructure and container terminals. The public entity’s total balance recorded €665,764,424.76 in 2016; €709,724,527.31 in 2017; €715,920,575.37 in 2018; and €726,480,358.67 in 2019. In the present decade, this asset volume was maintained at €725,321,525.61 in 2020 and €731,708,293.90 in 2021. The 2022 accounts marked the asset valuation ceiling at €753,209,416.78, adjusting to €731,886,088.09 in 2023 ahead of the final patrimonial upswing.
Staff increases as an operational response
The growth in business volume and the value of the infrastructure have led the Port Authority management to make strategic decisions in its personnel policy. Unlike the labor cost reduction model imposed in other state ports, Santa Cruz de Tenerife has chosen to expand its workforce gradually to avoid operational bottlenecks in managing the docks.
The average workforce at the Tenerife port rose to 240 workers in 2024, an increase from the 229 employees recorded in 2023 and the 226 professionals who made up the team in 2022. This hiring policy reverses the period of staff minimums that coincided with the health restrictions of 2021, when the number of workers in the workforce dropped to 223 operators from 230 active employees in 2020.
The institution’s historical workforce has traditionally fluctuated to adapt to market demand. The port operated with 222 workers in 2015, falling to the lowest level of the decade in 2016 with 218 employees. The gradual addition of technicians raised the workforce to 226 people in 2017, reaching its absolute series peak in 2018 with 243 workers, a figure very close to the 240 employees reported in 2019. Returning to the 240-professional level in the latest year underscores a commitment to the human factor to consolidate the efficiency of services, speed up the processing of concessions, and provide support for the strong growth in commercial activity.
The post Tenerife’s Ports reach €733 million, with more staff first appeared on elncanarymaritime.com.
