Ireland's buoyant economic recovery and lower fuel prices put some wind in the sails at Irish Continental Group (ICGC). The company's ferries division saw cash profits rise nearly a fifth to €23.9m largely thanks to a 5.5 per cent rise in both car and freight lorry volumes. Fuel costs fell by more than a third to €13.3m, which also supported the lift in profits. The ferries division additionally charters out some of its vessels and the MV Kaitaki will remain on charter in New Zealand until 2020, according to analysts at Goodbody, which provides "greater visibility on cash flows".
The container and terminal division also saw cash profits rise by a fifth to €6.6m as container freight volumes rose more than 7 per cent to 152,700, while the number of port lifts at its Dublin and Belfast terminals grew by 40 per cent to 144,800. Part of the explanation for the rise in the latter is the fact that the company took on work at an additional terminal in Belfast in June 2015. Net debt more than halved to €18.9m, but full-year capital expenditure is expected to be €40m, meaning net borrowing should be roughly €40m at the year-end.
Analysts at Goodbody expect EPS of 31.4¢ per share for the year to December 2016, compared with 28.5¢ in 2015.
| IRISH CONTINENTAL GROUP (ICGC) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 467¢ | MARKET VALUE: | £879m | |
| TOUCH: | 465-475¢ | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 580¢ | LOW: 418¢ |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.4% | PE RATIO: | 15 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 50¢ | NET DEBT: | 20% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 143 | 14.9 | 7.8 | 3.6 |
| 2016 | 151 | 19.7 | 10.3 | 3.8 |
| % change | +5 | +32 | +32 | +5 |
Ex-div: 22 Sep Payment: 7 Oct | ||||
