Irish Continental ups dividend as interim profit surges
Irish Continental Group PLC on Thursday said it continued to build on progress as it reported interim profit growth and a higher dividend.
The Dublin-based ferry operator said pretax profit jumped 40% to €20.5 million in the first half of 2025, from €14.6 million a year prior.
Revenue climbed 8.5% to €309.9 million from €285.5 million.
Fuel costs were down 1.5% at €54.0 million from €54.8 million, due to a fall in average global fuel prices. This was mostly offset by an increase in costs associated with the EU Emission Trade System.
Irish Continental declared an interim dividend of 5.37 cents per share, up 5.1% from 5.11c a year ago.
Chair John McGuckian said the company had a successful period despite a difficult start after the closure of Holyhead Port. It noted that freight volumes in the Ferries divisions recovered ‘strongly’.
He added: ‘We continue to build on the progress made in the prior year with a continuation of our space charter agreement with P&O Ferries on the Dover Calais route. This allows for the sharing of space for freight traffic on both parties‘ vessels. In addition, we are seeing the benefit of the additional freight capacity provided by the introduction of the Oscar Wilde onto the route in 2024. The vessel entered service with Irish Ferries in June 2024 and has enhanced both our customer offering on the route and increased capacity.’
Irish Continental shares were up 0.7% at €5.70 each on Thursday morning in Dublin. In London, stocks were flat at 486.00p.
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