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Displaying items by tag: Annual Report 2022

The pay package of Irish Continental Group’s chief executive, Eamonn Rothwell has jumped almost 250 per cent to €2.9 million last year, as the parent company of Irish Ferries, operating Ireland-UK routes and between Ireland and France, returned to profit after the pandemic.

In addition to Irish Ferries running its fledgling UK-France service on the Dover-Calais route that was launched in June, 2021 in the wake of Brexit, which has expanded into a three-ship service (see related story).

Last year, Mr Rothwell also collected €4.28 million of dividends on his 17.7 per cent stake as the Dublin based company, had handed out €24.2 million of such payments to shareholders, including an interim dividend for 2022.

According to ICG’s annual report, released on Tuesday, showed Mr Rothwell received a 20 per cent rise in basic pay last year – to €700,000. In addition the Chief Executive secured a €1.38 million bonus by way of restricted shares, which have a five-year disposal restriction.

As for share options, they were awarded under a performance share plan that was valued at €814,000, while other benefits amounted to €35,000.

The company which has its head office located in Dublin Port, earlier this month reported an operating profit of €66.7 million for 2022, a year in which revenues soared almost 75 per cent compared to pandemic-stricken 2021.

As The Irish Times (which has more) reports on the company that made losses at both operating and net earnings level in 2020 and 2021.

Whereas revenues at the maritime transport group had increased by €250.4 million to last year’s €584.9 million.

To consult the annual report in full, click this link.

Published in Irish Ferries

About Brittany Ferries

In 1967 a farmer from Finistère in Brittany, Alexis Gourvennec, succeeded in bringing together a variety of organisations from the region to embark on an ambitious project: the aim was to open up the region, to improve its infrastructure and to enrich its people by turning to traditional partners such as Ireland and the UK. In 1972 BAI (Brittany-England-Ireland) was born.

The first cross-Channel link was inaugurated in January 1973, when a converted Israeli tank-carrier called Kerisnel left the port of Roscoff for Plymouth carrying trucks loaded with Breton vegetables such as cauliflowers and artichokes. The story, therefore, begins on 2 January 1973, 24 hours after Great Britain's entry into the Common Market (EEC).

From these humble beginnings however, Brittany Ferries as the company was re-named quickly opened up to passenger transport, then became a tour operator.

Today, Brittany Ferries has established itself as the national leader in French maritime transport: an atypical leader, under private ownership, still owned by a Breton agricultural cooperative.

Eighty five percent of the company’s passengers are British.

Key Brittany Ferries figures:

  • Turnover: €202.4 million (compared with €469m in 2019)
  • Investment in three new ships, Galicia plus two new vessels powered by cleaner LNG (liquefied natural gas) arriving in 2022 and 2023
  • Employment: 2,474 seafarers and shore staff (average high/low season)
  • Passengers: 752,102 in 2020 (compared with 2,498,354 in 2019)
  • Freight: 160,377 in 2020 (compared with 201,554 in 2019)
  • Twelve ships operating services that connect France, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain (non-Covid year) across 14 routes
  • Twelve ports in total: Bilbao, Santander, Portsmouth, Poole, Plymouth, Cork, Rosslare, Caen, Cherbourg, Le Havre, Saint-Malo, Roscoff
  • Tourism in Europe: 231,000 unique visitors, staying 2.6 million bed-nights in France in 2020 (compared with 857,000 unique visitors, staying 8,7 million bed-nights in 2019).