Irish Ferries owner Irish Continental Group has reported higher revenues and earnings for 2021 after what it called another challenging year for the group, with a continuation of travel restrictions due to Covid-19.
ICG said its revenues for the year to December rose by 20.7% to €334.5m from €277.1m in 2020.
It also reported a loss before tax of €4.1m, which marked an improvement on the loss of €18m reported in 2020.
The company's EBITDA rose by 24.2% to €52.3m from €42.1m in 2020 mainly due to increased revenues and a continued focus on cost optimisation.
ICG said the number of cars it carried on its ferries last year jumped by 48.5%, while passenger numbers rose by 28.7% and RoRo freight units decreased by 13.6%.
During the year, ICG started the new Irish Ferries' services on the Dover-Calais route. The new route started in June with the deployment of the Isle of Inishmore.
ICG said the route was further boosted with the introduction of the Isle of Innisfree onto the route on the 16 December 2021.
It also bought a third ship for the route to be named the Isle of Inisheer, which is expected to enter service onto the route in the first half of 2022.
Further coverage from RTE News.