Irish Continental's recovery slower than expected

FERRY company Irish Continental Group’s reversal of 1.7m in losses into a 3.3m profit in the first six months has not been enough to please stockbroking analysts.

The company also managed to bring its net debt down by 30 million from 187million in December to 157 million at the end of June. With no large debt generating ship building projects in the pipeline the way is clear for further debt reduction.

Group operating profit increased by over 100% to 8.7m in the year to June. In the ferry division, profits were up 3.8m to 6.2m, while profits in the container and terminal division increased by 47% to 2.5m.

Goodbody Stockbroker analyst Robert Eason said the improvement in the operating performance in the first half of the year reflects the recovery in passenger numbers from the impact of Foot & Mouth Disease in 2001 and the benefits of cost reductions in the Container and Terminal Division.