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Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation for 2017 slipped 3% to
Revenue for the year was up 3% year-on-year to
Ebitda was hit, Irish Continental said, by previously guided increases in fuel costs and currency headwinds provided by a weaker
Pretax profit was boosted by
The company is to pay a final dividend of
Irish Continental's Ferries division did well, the company said, despite higher fuel costs, posting a revenue rise of 1.1% to
Revenue in the other division, Container & Terminal, rose 6.5% to
Since the beginning of 2018, car and passenger volumes have increased, as have container carryings and port lifts. Stronger world fuel prices have been offset by a positive benefit from a weaker dollar, Irish Continental said.
However, Irish Ferries have been hurt by "prolonged bad weather" in the first two month of 2018, meaning conventional sailings decreased 9% on a year before. The unit carried 43,800 RoRo units in the period, down 3.3% from a year before.
Chairman John McGuckian commented: "2017 was another successful year for the group. Despite the headwinds of increased fuel costs and weaker sterling, the company delivered Ebitda of
"In the next phase of the group's development we are looking forward to the arrival of the new cruise ferry MV WB Yeats in summer 2018."
