Tallink Improves Quarterly Profit by 368 Pct

Estonian ferry operator AS Tallink Grupp reported EUR 28.5 million net profit for the second quarter of 2015, a 367.7% jump compared to EUR 6.1 million net profit for the same period a year earlier, due to increased charter revenues and lower operating costs.

Tallink’s unaudited revenue for the second quarter of 2015 increased by EUR 7.4 million, or 3% year-on-year to the total of EUR 253.9 million. EBITDA increased by EUR 14.1 million or 34.3% to the total of EUR 55.2 million, compared to the same period last year.

In the second quarter of the 2015, AS Tallink Grupp and its subsidiaries carried nearly 2.4 million passengers, which is on the same level compared to the second quarter last year.

The Estonia-Finland route revenue for the period increased by 6.2%, driven by 4.8% growth in passenger number and 19.9% increase in cargo units, with the cargo growth supported mainly by added capacity.

The Estonia-Sweden route, where capacity is lower than last year, experienced a 5.1% decrease in passengers and a 12.3% decrease in cargo volumes. The Latvia-Sweden route, operating with one vessel compared to two vessels last year, showed a decline with passenger numbers decreasing by 42.3%, while cargo units transported decreased by 59.2%.

The upgrades of the public areas and improvements to restaurant and shop concept throughout the fleet in past year, combined with the operational changes, have resulted in a 2% increase in on-board revenue per passenger.

Due to the increased number of chartered vessels compared to the same period last year, the revenue from charters increased by EUR 4.8 million or 57.8%, to the total of EUR 13.2 million. Main contribution to the charter revenue growth comes from the Silja Europa charter agreement from August 2014 onwards.

In the first half year of 2015 the positive effect from chartering activities has been visible as in the comparable period last year fewer ships were in charter.

Looking forward to the second half of the 2015 financial year, the chartering revenues will decrease compared to the previous year as Silja Europa charter becomes comparable with the last year and two ships previously in charter were sold in the second quarter of 2015.