Irish Ferries owner, Irish Continental Group, has today reported higher profits for 2023 but its revenues dipped against the background challenges of high inflation and a slowdown in global trade.
ICG said its pre-tax profits for the year to the end of December rose to €63.3m from €62.5m in 2022, while its operating profits rose by 2.5% to €68.4m from €66.7m on the back of a strong performance in its Ferries Division.
But revenues for the year eased by 2.2% to €572m from €584.9m.
ICG said its board had declared and paid during 2023 a final dividend of 9.45 cent per ordinary share for 2022 and an interim dividend of 4.87 cent per ordinary share for 2023. Dividends paid during the year totalled €24.4m, it added.
Within the Ferries Division, ICG said the recovery in passenger markets, its strong position in freight markets and the introduction of duty-free have lifted the division to record levels of activity and revenue.
"Thanks to the increased footprint in the division, the volumes carried and the scale of the business are unrecognisable when compared to just a few years ago," ICG said today.
Car carryings on Irish Ferries during the year increased over the previous year by 12.6% to 645,700 cars from a level of 573,400.
ICG said the increase was mainly due to the continued recovery in passenger markets and the benefit of a full year three ship operation on its Dover-Calais route.
The total sea passenger market increased by 15% on 2022 to a total of 19 million passengers. Irish Ferries' passenger numbers carried increased by 20.2% to 2,781,700 from 2,315,000 in 2022.
It is estimated that the overall car market, on the routes that ICG operate - Ireland to UK/France and the Dover Straits - grew by about 11.6% in 2023 to 4,461,000 cars.
ICG said that while this increase is encouraging, the level of car carryings is still 15% behind pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
Today's figures show that revenue in ICG's Ferries Division for last year rose by 3.1% to €412.3m from €399.9m in 2022, while operating profits increased by 12.3% to €52.1m from €46.4m the previous year.
The group took delivery of the Oscar Wilde ferry in May and signed a long term charter agreement for a firm period of 20 months with the opportunity to extend the charter by two or more years.
The vessel entered service on the Rosslare-Pembroke route for the 2023 summer season, but for 2024 will also operate on the Dublin-Holyhead and Dublin-Cherbourg routes.
"One outstanding feature of the vessel is the material upgrade in retail space available on board. It currently has the largest duty-free shopping space of any cruise ferry on the Irish Sea with 17,000 square feet allowing for enhanced range of stock and customer experience," ICG said.
Today's figures also show that the RoRo freight market between the Republic of Ireland to the UK and France and the Dover Straits fell slightly in 2023. The total market for trucks and trailers decreased by 2.6% to about 4,277,000 units.
Irish Ferries’ freight carryings, at 724,000 freight units increased by 3.9% on the previous year. It said the increase over market performance was enabled through the additional capacity of the full year three vessel service on the Dover-Calais route.
Meanwhile, revenues at the company's Container and Terminal division fell by 12.4% to €194.1m from €221.5m, while operating profits were down almost 20% to €16.3m from €20.3m.
Containers handled at the group's terminals in Dublin Ferryport Terminals (DFT) and Belfast Container Terminal (BCT) were down 2.3% at 312,400 lifts from 319,600 lifts in 2022.
DFT's volumes were down 1%, while BCT's volumes were down 4.2%, it added.
Chairman John B McGuckian said that 2023 was another strong year for the Ferries Division and while the Container and Terminal Division experienced challenging trading conditions, the investment and modernisation of ICG's facilities mean it is an "excellent" position to capitalise on opportunities in the future.
"Capital allocation has always been a key focus in this company and our balance sheet strength allows us to take advantage of opportunities as they arise," the chairman said.
"As in prior years, I would like to thank all our colleagues who made these results possible, particularly those on the front line who continue to ensure the efficient and reliable operation of our services and allow us to meet the requirements of our customers," he added.
