OPERATING PROFIT at Dublin Port fell by 4.5 per cent during the first six months of the year, while turnover was down 13 per cent according to trading figures released by Dublin Port Company yesterday.

Although throughput – the amount of cargo passing through the port – was down 15.7 per cent in the first six months of the year, the number of tourist passengers travelling through the port rose 7.6 per cent.

The company also published its annual report for 2008 yesterday, which showed that the state-owned company’s operating profit increased by 25 per cent from the previous year to almost €27 million. Turnover was up only marginally at €70.6 million.

Chief Executive Enda Connellan said the increase was driven by revenues from its new Topaz service station which opened at the entrance to the Port Tunnel in March 2008. The company also continued a cost-cutting operation which has seen payroll costs decrease for the seventh consecutive year. Dublin Port Company currently employs 160 people.

The annual report showed that the Government received a dividend of €5.1 million last year, an increase of 22 per cent on the previous year. Because shareholder dividend is calculated as a percentage of the previous year’s operating profits, Dublin Port Company has also paid the dividend for 2009 – a figure of €5.3 million.

The company’s debt stood at €33.66 million at December 2008, an increase of more than 86 per cent on the previous year. Mr Connellan said this was mainly due to capital investments and pension fund costs, although he stressed that the company’s pension fund continues to exceed the minimum funding standard prescribed by the 1990 Pensions Act.

The report also showed that last year the company invested €26.6 million in capital projects including the building of the Topaz Service station, which is the biggest service station in the country, the development of the dock at Alexander Quay, investment in a new marine plant, and the purchase of two tugs at a cost of almost €13 million.

Speaking at the launch of the annual report, Mr Connellan said he expects the oral hearing into its application for planning permission to reclaim 21 hectares of Dublin Bay to take place in the autumn. He said that because of the increased size of container ships, the extra land is imperative.

“Ireland is a trading nation and continued investment in port infrastructure is essential to see us through the current economic challenges and to ensure that we are well-positioned when growth returns,” he said.