OREANDA-NEWS. August 22, 2012. The leading shipping company on the Baltic Sea, AS Tallink Grupp announced today that the company has increased the unaudited net profit of second quarter by 47 percent, reaching 20 million Euros. The revenue of the second quarter of the current financial year increased by almost 7 million Euros or 3 percent to total 244.8 million Euros.

Considering the overall economic situation and competition the Group’s second quarter results were generally pleasing, but did not fully meet the management expectations as the dynamics in the passenger metrics were not same directional.

Steady growth despite of the adverse weather, unstable macroeconomic climate and volatile fuel prices describe the second quarter (1st of April – 30th of June) operations of AS Tallink Grupp and its subsidiaries. The Group carried total of 2.4 million passengers in the second quarter of 2012 which is nearly 2 percent more than in the same period the last year. Market share of the company improved overall.

The Group’s unaudited consolidated revenue for the second quarter of 2012 financial year increased by 6.8 million Euros or 3 percent to 244.8 million Euros.

Total unaudited Gross profit for the second quarter amounted to 57.3 million Euros, which is 13.6 percent of increase and EBITDA amounted to 46.2 million Euros, more than 9.6 percent more than in the same period of last year. In the second quarter of 2012 the Group’s unaudited net profit was 20 million Euros compared to 13.6 million Euros last year. The total cumulative net profit for the six months of the 2012 financial year amounts to 1 million Euros compared to net loss of 3.5 million Euros a year ago.

While the revenue per passenger from shops and restaurant sales is showing a healthy 3.6 percent increase, the revenue from ticket sales declined by 4.4 percent compared to the second quarter of the previous year. The unusually bad weather in spring and early summer have affected the passengers’ booking behavior hence increased promotional activities were deployed in attracting people to travel.

The fuel prices in the second quarter were volatile. When measured in euros and compared to the same quarter of the last year the average quarterly price for ship fuel was approximately 13% higher. In result the Group’s fuel cost in the continuing operations increased by EUR 3.9 million. Due to the closure of Finland-Germany operations the total fuel cost for the Group in the second quarter was EUR 3.4 million smaller.

34.3 million Euros were used to repay the bank debt, resulting the 3.6 percent decrease in interest bearing liabilities during the second quarter. The net debt in the end of the second quarter was 850.5 million Euros. The total liquidity, cash and unused credit facilities at the end of the first quarter was 117.8 million Euros providing strong position for the sustainable operations.

AS Tallink Grupp is one of the largest ferry companies in the region, operating six routes between Finland, Sweden, Estonia and Latvia. The company has over 9 million passengers annually (2010/2011) and employs 6800 people.