Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Tourism, Transport

AS Tallink Grupp and its subsidiaries carried a total of nearly 8.9 million passengers in the 2014 financial year which is 2.6% less than the year before.

The group’s unaudited consolidated revenue was EUR 921.5 million which is 2.2% lower compared to the previous year.

The unaudited gross profit was EUR 181.8 million, EBITDA EUR 150.6 million. Unaudited net profit amounted to EUR 27.3 million or EUR 0.04 per share, which is a 37.1% decrease compared to the previous year.

Tallink said that its 2014 revenue was affected by several actions and changes in the operations and market developments. Most noticeably the revenue from charters increased by 53.1% or EUR 16.3 million. This is a result of more vessels being in charter and is expected to continue showing a positive effect to the profitability in the forthcoming quarters.

The ticket and cargo sales decreased by 7.5% and 2.4% respectively. Estonia-Finland route showed a slight decline with passenger’s numbers decreasing by 1.3%, however cargo units transported increased by 13.8% and the segment revenue increased by 1.4%. On the Finland-Sweden route the passenger’s volume decreased by 3.4%, cargo units transported decreased by 8.8% and the sales decreased by 5.6%.

Due to Silja Symphony and Silja Serenade being altogether 80 days in upgrade works and did not operate. The Latvia-Sweden route showed a decline with passenger’s numbers decreasing by 12.5%, cargo units transported decreased by 26.5%, passenger vehicles transported decreased by 15.0% and the sales decreased by 16.5%. The decline in passenger and cargo volumes on the Latvia-Sweden route is due to Isabelle operating as the only vessel on the route since the beginning of August 2014. Throughout the year there was increased pressure from competitors in the form of aggressive pricing and added capacity.

In the fourth quarter (1 October – 31 December) of the 2014 financial year the Group carried over 2.05 million passengers which is 4.5% less compared to the same period last year. The number of cargo units transported decreased by 1.2% and the number of passenger vehicles transported decreased by 1.7%. The Group’s consolidated revenue in the fourth quarter was EUR 224.1 million, being on the same level as in the last year. In the fourth quarter of the 2014 financial year the Group’s gross profit amounted to EUR 49.5 million and EBITDA to EUR 41.1 million being respectively 33.4% or EUR 12.4 million and 37.7% or EUR 11.2 million more compared to the same period last year. The unaudited net profit for the fourth quarter of the 2014 financial year was EUR 8.4 million or EUR 0.01 per share compared to the net profit of EUR 7.5 million or EUR 0.01 per share in the same period last year.

The 2014 financial year result did not meet the management’s expectations, however the fourth quarter result was strong and provides a good base for the forthcoming year, Tallink's management said.