Annual profits at the owner of Irish Ferries halved last year in the face of Covid-19 travel restrictions.
Earnings [ebitda] at Irish Continental Group dropped by €44.7 million to €42.1 million in 2020 over the previous 12 months.
Revenue was down by 22.5% to €277.1 million as car carryings fell by almost 66% to 137,100.
This came against the backdrop of a fall in the overall car market to and from the Republic of Ireland of 63.5% in 2020 to 284,000.
The all-island market, including routes into Northern Ireland, is estimated to have decreased by 51.8%.
Irish Ferries’ fall in carryings was primarily due to Covid-19 travel restrictions in place for most of the year, according to the company.
“Resulting from these restrictions and other Covid-19 considerations a decision was made not to operate the fast-craft Dublin Swift given available passenger capacity on our conventional ferries.”
Irish Ferries’ passenger numbers dropped by 66.3% to 519,000 from 1.54 million in 2019.
“In the first half of the year, Irish Ferries’ passenger volumes fell by 63.9% and in the second half of the year, which is seasonally more significant, the decrease in passenger numbers was 68.1%,” the company added.
The total sea passenger market – car, coach and foot passengers – to and from the Republic of Ireland was down by 62.5% on 2019 to a total of 1.1 million passengers, while the all-island market decreased by 56.2%.
However, the group, which runs three divisions, said it was in a strong financial position with available liquidity comprising cash and committed bank facilities of €240.8 million at December 31, 2020.
Chairman John McGuckian said: “2020 was an exceptionally challenging year for the group, with the restrictions placed on travel due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“While these restrictions brought large-scale disruption and reductions in our passenger business, the other parts of our business proved resilient throughout the entire year.
“The container and terminal division largely maintained its profitability while it optimised capacity levels to meet market demands.
“The group maintained services on all its shipping routes to the United Kingdom and continental Europe, and operations at its container terminals.
“Both were critical to maintaining Ireland’s supply chains during this challenging year.”