SHANNON FOYNES Port Company posted a record operating profit of €2.5 million last year on the back of a 23 per cent increase in tonnage passing through the facility.
This is revealed in the State-owned company’s annual report, which has been presented to the Government.
The report shows that the port company made a bottom-line profit for the year of €1.1 million – a five-fold increase on 2009. Operating cash flows rose to €3 million, up from €2.7 million a year earlier.
Tonnage rose to 9.4 million tons, up from 7.6 million in 2009.
About 35 per cent of Ireland’s bulk traffic transits through the west of Ireland harbour.
The port company boosted its margin to record levels – to 25.5 per cent last year from 20.6 per cent in 2009.
“Furthermore, the strong rebound in our tonnage figures suggests that there are some very strong underlying sectors functioning in the economy despite the ongoing fiscal and banking predicaments,” chairwoman Kay McGuinness said in the report.
In his statement, company chief executive Pat Keating noted that the firm had significant obligations relating to pension provision, ongoing debt requirements and future capital expenditure. To meet these obligations “current profitability needs to be at a minimum sustained but, realistically, increased”, he said.
The port company paid down €900,000 in debt in the year.
In relation to the pension scheme, Mr Keating said a “manageable funding plan” was in place, subject to Pensions Board approval, to eliminate the deficits without “recourse to the exchequer or without need for asset fire sales”.
Mr McGuinness said the final quarter saw a “significant upswing in traffic through most terminals, giving cause for optimism of a further growth in volume for 2011”.
The port company is to invest €1.6 million in fixed assets in 2011.
In addition, it has identified significant port development opportunities (up to €1 billion in private investment) in its strategic plan for the period 2010 to 2015.
“However, the board has identified significant external threats, relating to primarily national policy and regulatory matters, that may prevent their realisation,” the chairman said.
In its review of State assets and liabilities, the group led by Colm McCarthy recommended that the State ports should be restructured into competing multi-port companies, built around Dublin, Cork and Shannon Foynes. These were big enough to be sold separately, the group said, but this should only follow rationalisation.