Irish Continental Group (ICG) has reported its financial performance for the year ended 31 December 2024.
- Revenue increased by €31.8 million (5.6%) to €603.8 million.
- EBITDA increase of €0.9 million to €133.5 million due to a strong performance in the Ferries Division. Cash generated from operations of €142.5 million (2023: €136.7 million) was used to fund strategic capital expenditure of €15.8 million and returns to shareholders of €33.7 million via dividends and share buybacks. Net debt at year end was €162.2 million (2023: €143.7 million).
- The Ferries Division saw strong volume growth across all our markets. Significant progress has been made against our target of getting back to pre-Covid levels of passenger traffic. The disruption in Holyhead Port in December 2024 had a negative impact on our financial results. The Group was able to redeploy ships to minimise customer disruption and mitigate as much as possible our financial losses.
- In May 2024, the Group chartered the Oscar Wilde cruise ferry (ex Spirit of Britain) for an initial 24 month period with a purchase obligation at the end of charter period. The vessel entered service in June on the Dover – Calais route. The entry of the ship into service will allow the Group to continue its growth on the Channel and improve our offering to customers. The James Joyce (ex Star) was returned to its owners at the end of January 2025.
- Irish Ferries signed a space charter agreement for the Dover – Calais route with P&O Ferries, allowing for space sharing on each parties’ vessels for both freight and passenger traffic. The initial focus was to introduce the space sharing for our freight customers. This was fully operational by year end and we have shifted our focus to introducing this for our passenger customers.
- While we see encouraging signs in the Container and Terminal Division, it was a challenging year. However, this is set against a number of years of strong growth and profitability prior to 2023. Container volumes in Eucon and lifts in our terminals grew significantly this year but this volume growth, particularly in Eucon, has led to higher costs. Container rates have not yet fully recovered, resulting in reduced profitability for the Division. We see reassuring signs in the market and expect a further recovery in rates.
Commenting on the results, Chairman John B. McGuckian said:
“2024 was a record year for ICG across most of our key metrics. Our RoRo freight volumes and car volumes reached record highs as did key financial metric of EBITDA. The closure of Holyhead Port in December 2024 through to mid-January 2025 had a serious impact on our customers at a key time of the year for both RoRo freight and passenger traffic and clearly had an impact on our financials for 2024 and into the start of 2025. Irish Ferries is very well placed to benefit from the continued recovery in volumes back to 2019 levels. The Container and Terminal Division is experiencing significant underlying growth and we are excited by the extension of our container concession in Belfast for a further six years to 2032 which we see as a vote of confidence in our operational expertise. Capital allocation remains a key part of our strategic focus and our current balance sheet strength puts us in a very strong position to avail of opportunities as they arise. I would like to thank all my colleagues who have contributed to our journey so far and I would like to particularly thank all of those on the front line who help us satisfy our customer needs on a daily basis.”
