The maritime transportation firm, Irish Continental Group (ICG) has witnessed a noticeable rise in container and roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) cargo volumes in the initial quarter of this year, following a testing period in 2023 due to freight volume issues. The firm, which owns Irish Ferries, experienced a revenue surge to €177 million up until May 4th, marking an uplift of 8.3% compared to the same time span last year, as revealed in a trading update released on Thursday.
The significant increase in car volumes transported by ICG ferries, exceeding 153,000, a boost of 21.2% when stacked against the first quadrimester of 2023, primarily fueled this performance. The ferries division saw a 12% hike in total revenues, rounding off at €119.7 million in this stretch.
RoRo volumes saw a 16.5% surge, with container volumes registering a 6% lift to 104,400 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit). Volume operations at ICG’s stations in Dublin and Belfast amounted to 113,400 units – a growth of 10.1% year-on-year.
Nevertheless, the collective revenues from its container and terminals dipped slightly by 1.1%, totalling €68.8 million. ICG mentioned that this revenue figure encompasses charges linked to “fuel movements, emission expenses under ETS (the European Emissions Trading System), and the effect of alterations in the cost of hiring ships.”
In its March-published 2023 annual report, the transport conglomerate conveyed that its performance was more arduous in their container and terminal enterprise division with reduced volumes due to weaker export and import levels from China, supply chain complications, and following over-stocking impacting volumes earlier in the year.
Still, ICG highlighted that this business downturn ensues after several consecutive years of unprecedented growth and profit.