Irish Ferries owner buoyed up by stronger earnings

Revenues at Irish Continental Group rose 7.4 per cent in the first four months of the year to €91.4 million.

The Irish Ferries owner said it had experienced a good start to 2016 with trading conditions remaining favourable.

In an interim management statement on Friday, the company said revenues at its ferries division rose by 7.1 per cent versus the same period a year earlier to €51.6 million.

The group said it carried 90,200 cars, up 5 per cent on the corresponding four-month period in 2015, while freight carryings totalled 92,300 roll on-roll off (RoRo) units, an increase of 8 per cent.

Total revenues in the group’s container and terminal division jumped 13. 4 per cent compared to the prior year to €42.3 million.

Container freight volumes shipped were up 10 per cent to 103,400 (twenty foot equivalent units (teu), while units handled at the company’s terminals in Dublin and Belfast increased 54 per cent year-on-year to 96,500 lifts.

Dublin ferryport terminals throughput increased by 8 per cent on the prior year and was up 257 per cent at the group’s Belfast facility on the back of the recent awarding of a concession to operate a larger container terminal.

ICG said net debt at the end of April was €25.9 million compared with €44.3 million at the end of last year.