The Rhode Island Convention Center Authority operated at a loss in the first eight months of its fiscal year, but the loss was less than expected and less than for the same period a year ago, excluding a onetime payment from the state, according to recently released financial statements.

For the period from July 1, 2007, to Feb. 29, 2008, the authority lost a total of $252,352 on operations at the convention center and the civic center and on its own internal operations. For that period, the authority’s budget predicted a loss of $282,294. For the same period the previous year, the authority showed a profit of $166,051, but that figure included a onetime payment from the state of $1.5 million that wasn’t repeated this year.

The authority showed total revenues through the end of February of $12.6 million from its operations, plus $7.1 million from the state to cover payments on borrowing. Total expenses were $20 million, which includes the $7.1-million borrowing payments.

The previous year, revenues were $12.2 million from operations and $8.5 million from the state. Expenses were $20.5 million.

“It’s average news,” said authority Executive Director James McCarvill. “We’re on budget. We’re beating prior year.”

He said he expects the numbers to run in the black next year after renovations at the civic center arena are complete. Those have dragged down the authority’s performance in several ways, he said, including:

•Accommodating the construction schedule has forced the arena to be closed on dates it could have booked events.

•Reduced attendance at the civic center results in reduced parking revenues in the convention center’s garages.

•Construction needs have meant part of the building has been open to the elements throughout the winter, driving up heating costs.

•Dust from the construction has spread throughout the civic center, also known as the Dunk, after Dunkin’ Donuts, which pays for naming rights. “We’re spending more money at the Dunk on between-event cleaning,” said McCarvill.

Broken down by facility, the authority saw revenues through February from the convention center of $9.3 million, and expenses were $7.5 million, for a net income of $1.8 million.

For the civic center, revenues were $2.9 million, and expenses were $3.6 million, for a net loss of $738,000.

“The positive number at the convention center is almost dead equal to the negative number at the Dunk,” said McCarvill.

He said the convention center complex tends to track trends in the economy, although it can see offsets in some cases.

“If you can’t go on vacation, if you can’t go to Disney World, maybe you’ll go to Disney on Ice,” McCarvill said. “There’s a market for us in almost any economy; there’s a risk for us in almost any economy. No particular economy is all good or all bad for us.”

pparker@projo.com