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(Alliance News) - Irish Continental Group PLC on Thursday said it performed robustly last year despite a fall in revenue, as fuel costs were significantly lower than the year before.
The Dublin-based maritime transport firm said pretax profit edged up 1.3% to EUR63.3 million in 2023 from EUR62.5 million in 2022.
However, revenue declined 2.2% to EUR572.0 million from EUR584.9 million.
The company said that despite a contraction in activity levels and demand in the Container & Terminal division, it took advantage of a flexible cost base to maintain strong levels of profitability.
Notably, fuel costs decreased by 14% to EUR106.8 million from EUR124.0 million.
The company called their profit climb "a robust result against the background challenges of high inflation and a slowdown in global trade."
Irish Continental declared a final dividend of 9.93 euro cents, up 5.1% from 9.45 cents a year prior.
Looking ahead, Irish Continental said: "We expect some growth in the container market in 2024, assuming lower interest rates which should fuel economic growth later in the year. Port lifts have increased by 8.7% in the first two months of the year versus the same period in 2023. There is a continuation of the improving trend in volumes from the last quarter of 2023 along with the addition of a new customer on our Dublin terminal. Our recent investments in the Dublin terminal and the ongoing expansion of the Belfast terminal leave us well placed to avail of any market growth."
Irish Continental shares fell 4.1% to 402.96 pence each on Thursday afternoon in London.
By Tom Budszus, Alliance News slot editor
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