30th Aug 2018 10:30
LONDON (Alliance News) - Irish Continental Group PLC on Thursday reported a drop in operating profit for the first half of the year due to difficult summer trading for its ferries division, with delays to its flagship and the late delivery of another vessel.
In the six months to June 30, the Irish-based maritime transport firm's pretax profit fell 37% to EUR29.7 million from EUR47.5 million the previous year. Ferries, which constitute the majority of the company's revenue, saw its pretax profit contribution drop to EUR23.8 million from EUR42.1 million due to a number of issues.
"Summer trading has been difficult for the ferries division principally due to technical difficulties on the flagship Ulysses and the late delivery of the WB Yeats...We look forward to the delivery of the WB Yeats in late 2018 which will bring cost savings and significant additional earnings potential for the group," said Irish Continental Chairman John McGuckian.
Revenue increased slightly to EUR157.2 million from EUR156.1 million due to increased volumes of freight and growth within its container & terminal division but issues within ferries dragged on profit.
Other operating expenses widened to EUR119.8 million from EUR116.5 million, and employee benefits expense increased to EUR11.3 million from EUR 10.0 million the year before.
In terms of volumes, total cars carried dropped 2.1% to 170,900 from 174,500. Roll-on-roll-off units increased 3.2% to 143,100, while containers improved a marginal 0.9% to 164,600 twenty-foot equivalent units from 163,100. Port lifts showed the greatest increase, up 5.2% at 154,800 from 147,200.
Total passengers fell 2.9% to 679,700 from 700,400.
Within ferries, total passenger numbers dropped a more dramatic 11% to 413,200, while roll-on-roll-off dropped 12% to 37,800 and car carryings fell 8.5% to 106,600.
Irish Continental declared a per share interim dividend of 4.21 EUR cents to be paid on October 5, up 5% from 4.01 cents per share in 2017.
"The outlook for the group for the remainder of the year is for growth in our freight businesses in line with market trends overall. Additional marketing initiatives are being undertaken to drive the recovery in our tourism business...With our well positioned balance sheet, the group remains in a strong position to explore further growth opportunities," the company said.
Shares in Irish Continental were up 0.4% at EUR5.49 on Thursday.
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