Annual sales at Brittany Ferries fell €22 million below turnover recorded pre-pandemic and Brexit, newly released figures for 2021-22 show.
Total passenger carryings fell by 26% to 1.84 million compared with almost 2.5 million in 2018-19 but four times as many as the 545,000 handled in Covid-hit 2020-21.
However, the French company reported a profit of €22.6 million, with a total turnover of €444.7 million last year.
This was more than double the previous year’s figure of €202.4 million and just €22 million shy of turnover recorded in the last pre-Brexit and Covid financial year of 2018-19.
Looking forward, the company said it “remains confident” with bookings up by 23% so far this year “pointing to a recovery towards pre-Covid business volumes”.
The entire Brittany Ferries fleet of ten mixed passenger-freight ships will be deployed from the end of this month.
Passenger traffic in the last financial year showed stronger results on long-haul routes connecting the UK with Spain, France with Ireland and Ireland with Spain.
The Irish market recorded particularly strong passenger growth with a 48% increase in volumes carried compared with 2018-19.
This was in part due to the expansion of routes connecting France and Ireland, as well as increased frequency between Roscoff and Cork and the opening of a Cherbourg to Rosslare route to passengers, having previously operated as freight-only.
Passenger carryings were down on all six UK-France routes, with the steepest decline of 95% between Portsmouth and Le Harve and numbers down by 58% to 61,000 between Portsmouth and Cherbourg.
The company said: “While tourist traffic was significantly lower than before Covid, the company still carried almost 800,000 visitors to France last year.
“In total 789 000 individuals came by ferry from the UK and Ireland. They spent 9.1 million bed nights, spending a total of €815 million. In terms of regional split, Brittany and Normandy were the biggest benefactors.”
In a statement issued after its annual meeting, the firm said: “A commitment to French seafarers and the French flag has been part of Brittany Ferries’ DNA since its creation 50 years ago.
“At the outset of the Covid crisis, Brittany Ferries made a pledge to protect employment.
“Today it is proud to have kept this promise to employees and remains the largest employer of French seafarers with all-French flagged vessels. In the high season last year a total of 2,768 people were employed by Brittany Ferries in all four markets. This included 1,872 seafarers, more than two thirds of that total.”
Notable events in the past year included the arrival of the company’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fuelled ship, Salamanca (pictured).