Irish Continental sees sharp first-half fall

IRISH Continental Group (ICG), in which troubled property developer Liam Carroll has a key minority holding, suffered a sharp fall in turnover and profits in the first half of the year.

Figures to end June 2009 show sales fell 28% to €119.8 million and operating profit was down sharply by 59% to €18.8m.

The figures were in line with previous indications given by the group.

Adjusted earnings per share fell from 58.9 cent to 22.3 cent, while the group’s net debt was reduced to €48.5m in the six months.

Passenger numbers were down 8.8% from a year earlier to 621,000, with car numbers down almost 6% to 159,000. Profit at the ferries division fell from €13.9m to €3.9m.

ICG chairman, John McGuckian, commenting on the state of the company, said extra capacity had been added to Irish Sea and Ireland-France freight routes this year at a time of reduced demand.

To deal with that downturn he expected some of this additional capacity to be moved elsewhere while the dip in demand continued.

Turnover in the container and terminal division fell 34% to €54.3m, while profit dropped only slightly to €3.2m.

The group said the figures reflect the weaker operating environment due to the recession. Sterling weakness was also a factor in the period, it said.

Overall the group said it is in a strong competitive and financial position, with good cash-generating abilities while net debt stood at €48.5m at 30 June.

Analyst Paul Meade of NCB said since the half year, trends are reported to have improved slightly.

Car volumes are now 5.6% down year to date, with roll-on roll-off freight volumes 21.5% lower and containers shipped 21.5% lower. “These trends all show modest improvement and are positive,” said Mr Meade, who has a “buy” recommendation on the shares.

In a general comment on the business, Mr McGuckian said overall levels of tourism and trade have been hit by the global downturn which has been reflected in the current set of figures for the first half.

Due to rigorous management of the business the chairman said the ICG is well placed to cope with the uncertain trading environment affecting its various businesses and is buttressed by the cash-generating nature of the operations for good measure.

“Looking to the future, we are well placed both financially and operationally to take advantage of a resumption in economic growth,” he said.