The owner of Irish Ferries saw first half profits almost double as an expanded cross channel service helped revenues rebound from pandemic period lows.
Irish Continental Group reported a pre-tax profit of €15.4 million, €27.6 million ahead of the same period last year.
Chairman John McGuckian said: “The gradual return of passenger travel towards more historic patterns and the continuing support of our freight customers together with the new ferry service on Dover–Calais drove half year 2022 revenues to a record level of €263.1 million.
“However, the group also had to deal with the challenges of cost inflation particularly energy prices.”
He described the period as one of “significant improvement” following the challenging trading environment over the previous two years with the imposition of travel restrictions in early 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Dover–Calais route, which started at the end of June 2021, was expanded to a three vessel service in May 2022 and now provides up to 30 sailings a day.
McGuckian added: “The improvement in revenue performance has continued to date.
“However, in the near term, the group is cautious regarding inflation pressures and the associated macro-economic impact together with the challenges in passing cost increases through the logistics chain.”
Irish Ferries handled almost 890,000 passengers and 214,000 cars in the six months against 132,000 and 29,800 respectively in the same period in 2021.
More than €50 million was spent by the group on strategic assets in the half year period.