Irish Continental Group H1: Freight is Stable – Strong Liquidity Position

By | 2020 Newsletter week 36 | No Comments

Traffic volumes in H1, 2020 (Ferries Division)

  • -63.9% Passengers 233.9k (648k)
  • -64.9% Cars 56.6k (161.2k)
  • -2.7% RoRo freight 149.4k (153.6k)

Financial figures H1, 2020 (ICG)

  • Revenue EUR 130.8 million (166.8)
  • EBITDA EUR 10 million (30)
  • EBIT EUR -9.5 million (11.6)

Gross cash balances EUR 132.5 million (31 December 2019: 110.9 million).

Net Debt at EUR 103.3 million is 25.7 million lower than at the beginning of the year.

Depressed economic activity and travel restrictions = significant reduction in passenger traffic while freight activity across the Group has been less affected.

The Group has continued to focus on its strategic development and has retained a strong liquidity position.

FERRY FINANCE

By | 2020 Newsletter week 31 | No Comments

Irish Continental Group H1: Strong Freight Performance Despite Pandemic

It is no surprise to see that the transportation of goods has kept ICG busy, while the passenger figures dropped considerably.

Volumes (Half Year 30 June 2020)

  • -65.0% Cars
  • -2.7% RoRo Freight
  • -11.7% Container Freight (teu)
  • -13.5% Terminal Lifts

H1 Finance (unaudited)

  • -21.6% Consolidated Group revenue €130.8 million
  • -33.3% Total revenues €61.6 million

The decrease was principally due to lower passenger volumes resulting from the travel restrictions introduced across the EU due to the Covid19 pandemic.

FERRY FINANCE

By | 2020 Newsletter week 25 | No Comments

A Strong Irish Continental Group Cancels Its Newbuilding

1)

In a statement, Irish Continental Group said that Covid-19 makes it difficult to estimate the full year financial impact on the Group.

Reason is the significant reduction in current passenger traffic and forward bookings for what is normally the peak Summer passenger season for ICG’s Irish Ferries services.

“It is very difficult to estimate the full year financial impact on the Group, as the reduction in passenger revenue will be material. In the period from 1/1 to 6/6 car volumes are down 62% with total passenger volumes down 60%.

The impact of Covid-19 on roro has been limited.  Roro volumes are down 4%, container volumes are down 13% with container lifts on ICG terminals down 14%.

2)

In the statement, ICG also talks about the Public Services Obligation (PSO) model from the Irish Government. “This was not an approach that we recommended as we believe this model was liable to create distortions in the marketplace and could be open to legal challenge. For both these reasons we decided not to participate in this PSO model, but we committed, without any Government support, to continue operating our lossmaking routes which provide a vital lifeline service to our Island.

3)

ICG announced it has terminated its newbuilding contract with the German shipbuilder FSG.

4)

The Group is in a strong financial position to weather this Covid-19 storm.

Irish Continental Group’s Ferries Division Performing Particularly Strongly

By | 2019 Newsletter week 48 | No Comments

Irish Continental Group (ICG) issued a trading update which covers carryings for the year to date to 23 November 2019 and financial information for the first ten months of 2019.

Consolidated Group revenue in the period was €308.8 million, an increase of €23.5 million or 8.2% compared with last year. While increases were achieved across all of the Group’s revenue streams, a significant proportion of the improvement arises in the Ferries Division from the improved schedule integrity following the prior year disruptions.

The overall effect of the continuing uncertainty about Brexit is generating negative impact on consumer sentiment and trade flows as investment decisions are delayed.

Ferries Division: Total revenues recorded in the period to 31 October amounted to EUR 184.3 million, a 7.1% increase on the prior year. This increase was driven by schedule changes, additional cruise ferry capacity following the entry into service of the W.B. Yeats in January replacing the previous Oscar Wilde and improved schedule integrity following the significant disruptions in the second half of 2018.

For the year to 23 November:

+1.6% cars

+10.5% roro units

A second cruise ferry is being built in Flensburg, with a contracted delivery of late 2020. It is intended that this vessel will service the Dublin/Holyhead route alongside the existing Ulysses with the chartered Epsilon being returned to its owners.

FERRY FINANCE

By | 2019 Newsletter week 35 | No Comments

Stena AB Interim Report H1

Ferry & Ro-Ro highlights:

Ferry Operations

EBITDA increased compared to last year mainly due to continued positive volumes for cars (3%) and passengers (1%).

Shipping (Ro-Ro)

Strong contract coverage and utilization rate across the Ro-Ro fleet, offset by lower charter income as a result of vessels sold in 2018.

Irish Continental Group Reports H1

Key figures for the first 6 months (Group)

  • +6.1% Revenue
  • +14.9% EBITDA (pre non-trading items)
  • -12.0% EBIT (including non-trading items)

Key figures for the first 6 months (Ferries)

  • +1.5%  Revenue
  • +4.8%  EBITDA
  • -20.3% EBIT (including non-trading items)

Trends

  • -5.7% cars
  • +7.3% ro-ro freight

FINANCE

By | 2019 Newsletter week 21 | No Comments

In its trading update (year to date, 11 May 2019), Irish Continental Group notes healthy figures for ro-ro freight, but a little dip in tourism transport.

ICG’s Ferries Division Irish Ferries (1 January – 11 May)
-8.5% Cars
+6.6% Ro-Ro Freight

ICG’s Ferries Division Irish Ferries (1 January – 30 April)
-1.1% Total revenues (including intra-division charter income). The decrease was principally due to lower tourism volumes resulting from the planned suspension of fastcraft services on the Dublin to Holyhead route in the period up to 14 March compared to the prior year, partially offset through increased freight volumes.

The planned suspension of fastcraft sailings in the off-peak season was the primary reason for reduced tourism carrying in the period. In addition, the proposed withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union had some negative impact on UK passenger bookings in the lead up to the proposed exit date of 29 March 2019.
The recent agreement between the Irish and British government to continue and formalise the Common Travel Area whatever the outcome of the UK withdrawal negotiations is a positive development, says ICG.

Irish Continental Group Sells OSCAR WILDE To MSC Group

By | 2019 Newsletter week 16 | No Comments

Irish Continental Group plc has entered into a bareboat hire purchase agreement for the sale of the 1987-built ferry OSCAR WILDE to MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company SA.

The total gross consideration for the sale is €28.9 million, payable in instalments over 6 years, up to 2025.

Delivery is expected to take place this month.

Recently MSC’s ferry subsidiary SNAV acquired AURELIA for the Adriatic Sea route Ancona-Split.

Irish Ferries Has A Robust Future After A Challenging Operational Year

By | 2019 Newsletter week 11 | No Comments

2018 was a challenging year operationally but one in which significant progress was made in the strategic development of the Group.

Schedule disruptions due to technical issues on ULUSSES and the late delivery of the W.B. YEATS lower the profit performance in 2018.

  • -1.5% Revenue €330.2m (€335.1m)
  • -15.6% EBITDA €68.4m (€81.0m)

FINANCE

By | 2019 Newsletter week 4 | No Comments

EUR 155 Million EIB Support For Investment In Two New Cruise Ferries By Irish Continental Group

The European Investment Bank is providing EUR 155 million to finance two new ro-pax vessels for the ICG subsidiary Irish Ferries.

The loan to Irish Continental Group represents the first support approved by the EIB under a new Green Shipping financing initiative that supports investment in new and existing ships to reduce emissions and improve fuel efficiency.

FINANCE

By | 2018 Newsletter week 48 | No Comments

Irish Continental Group: Containers Are Doing Better Than Ferries

Irish Ferries, the ICG ferry division had a difficult year with the problems with ULYSSES and the late delivery of the W.B. YEATS.

This is in contrast to ICG’s other divisions –containers and terminal lifts–, which did perform well.

Some data:

-7.2% cars 1 January – 31 October (-7.3% loss in sailings)

-11.2% cars since 30 June

-0.8% ro-ro freight units 1 January – 31 October (-4.1% cruise ferry sailings)

-5.6% ro-ro freight units since 30 June (reason: significant disruptions to the schedules on the Dublin Holyhead route due to technical difficulties affecting the flagship vessel ULYSSES).

The W.B. YEATS, currently under construction in Flensburg will be ready for delivery during early December.

-6.7% total revenues ferry division €172.1 million (1 January – 31 October)

€4.9 million of the decrease is attributable to lower external vessel charter earnings following the disposal of the KAITIKI and the JONATHAN SWIFT.