HAD it not been dragging the anchor weight of losses stemming from its 25 per cent investment in Bell Lines, the shipping and transport group Irish Continental (ICG) would have docked this week with a healthy set of annual results. However, added capacity on Bell's North Sea routes and fierce competition from the Channel Tunnel, which severely affected trade volumes and income, led to major losses at the ICG associate, effectively gouging out a below-the-waterline hole in group income.
ICG's share of Bell's losses amount to £1.6 million, rendering its 25 per cent shareholding worthless. The income seepage ultimately led to ICG's pre-tax profits for the year ending October last easing £0.5 million to £10.5 million. Turnover rose from £116.4 million to £127 million.
Elsewhere, ICG's core ferry and container divisions are performing well. Profits from ferry activities, at £16 million, improved by £4 million, with higher passenger numbers on the Ireland-UK route. However, business on the Ireland-France routes is down, with passenger numbers back nearly 11 per cent due to additional package holiday capacity to continental sun spots and increased competition from airlines.
Group earnings per share, helped by a tax credit, grew modestly from 42.7p to 44.2p. Shareholder are encouraged to remain on board with total dividends improved from 4.5p to 5.4p a share.
