Profits decline at Irish Continental

Operating profit and earnings at Irish Continental Group fell last year as higher fuel bills and lower freight volumes outweighed a rise in turnover.

The group recorded a decline of 2.2 per cent in operating profit from €27.1 million in 2011 to €26.5 million last year, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dipped 3.2 per cent to €45.8 million due to lower freight volumes and higher fuel costs.

Revenue for the year from continuing operations was up 1.7 per cent at €256.1 million. Fuel cost in the division was up €4.5 million (12.9 per cent) to €39.3 million.

Irish Ferries' passenger numbers carried were up 1.1 per cent at 1.544 million, but container freight was down, falling 5.7 per cent.

The company said extremely challenging economic circumstances in Ireland and UK contributed to the lack of growth in the market.

"These are resilient results in the face of a challenging economic background. There is now some emerging evidence of an improvement in the Irish economic environment, but we remain cautious, particularly in relation to freight capacity," ICG chairman John B McGuckian said.

ICG said it would continue to adopt a cautious approach to its business, despite emerging evidence of an improvement in the Irish economy.