An improving Irish economy and the low oil price account for the massive jump in profits at shipping group Irish Continental (ICGC). The company, which carries people, cars and goods between Ireland, the UK and the Normandy Coast, said ferry passenger numbers on its Irish Ferries line rose 2.6 per cent to 701,600, with cars up more than 7 per cent to 161,600. The ferry division also deals with roll-on, roll-off freight, and volumes here were up 12 per cent on the same period last year.
At €20.8m (£15.2m), the group spent a fifth less on fuel than last year. Lower oil prices more than offset the impact of the EU Sulphur Directive, which came into force at the start of the year. The legislation does not cover the Irish Sea, but means greener, more expensive fuel oils need to be used in parts of northern Europe, such as the North Sea and English Channel, that Irish Continental uses for some of its journeys. It has implemented a separate surcharge to mitigate the impact of this on its bottom line, however.
The smaller container and terminal division, which deals with lift-on, lift-off freight, also saw operating profits rise, even though the total number of containers lifted was broadly flat at 103,700.
Analysts at house broker Investec expect pre-tax profits of €48.9m for the full year, leading to EPS of 26¢, up from €28m and 14.7¢ in FY 2014.
| IRISH CONTINENTAL GROUP (ICGC) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 459¢ | MARKET VALUE: | €854m | |
| TOUCH: | 4.5-4.55¢ | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 459¢ | LOW: 263¢ |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.3% | PE RATIO: | 12 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 48¢ | NET DEBT: | 38% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (€m) | Pre-tax profit (€m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 131 | 2.7 | 1.3 | 3.5 |
| 2015 | 143 | 14.9 | 7.8 | 3.6 |
| % change | +9 | +452 | +500 | +5 |
Ex-div: 17 Sep Payment: 2 Oct | ||||
