The Container and Terminal division

The division’s intermodal shipping line Eucon is the market leader in the sector, operating a core fleet of six chartered container vessels ranging in size from 750 – 1,000 teu capacity, connecting the Irish ports of Dublin, Cork and Belfast with the continental ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp. Eucon deploys 3,800 owned and leased containers (equivalent to 7,400 teu) of varying types thereby offering a full range of services from palletised, project and temperature controlled cargo to Irish and European importers and exporters from all points on the island of Ireland to destinations across 20 European countries. Quay to door services are contracted to third parties utilising a variety of transport modes including road, rail and barge.

Dublin Ferryport Terminals operates its Dublin Port container facility from a leasehold facility covering over 34 acres. The facilities comprise 480 metres of berths for container ships, with a depth of 9 to 11 metres and is equipped with 3 modern Liebherr gantry cranes (40 tonne capacity) and 8 rubber tyred gantries (40 tonne capacity) on a strategically located site within three kilometres of Dublin city centre and within one kilometre of the Dublin Port Tunnel, providing direct access to Ireland’s motorway network. In addition two electrically operated rubber tyred gantries incorporating latest technologies to allow for remote operation were commissioned during the year.

Belfast Container Terminal operates the sole container terminal at Belfast under a services concession agreement with Belfast Harbour Commissioners (BHC). This facility comprises of a 27 acre site, equipped with 3 ship to shore gantry cranes, 3 rail mounted gantry cranes and 3 straddle carriers. During the year the Group agreed an extension to the port operating concession agreement at Belfast. This agreement now extends to 2026 during which the port owner BHC will undertake significant investment in new port assets.

Revenue in the division increased to €154.4 million (2018: €143.3 million). The revenue is derived from container handling and related ancillary revenues at our terminals and in Eucon from a mix of domestic door-to-door, quay-to-quay and feeder services with 70% (2018: 70%) of shipping revenue generated from imports into Ireland. With a flexible chartered fleet and slot charter arrangements Eucon was able to adjust capacity and thereby continue to meet the requirements of customers in a cost effective and efficient manner.

EBITDA in the division increased to €19.6 million (2018: €14.8 million) while EBIT rose 12.4% to €13.6 million (2018: €12.1 million). The prior year reported figures have not been restated for the effects of IFRS 16 adopted on 1 January 2019. Adjusting the 2019 reported figures for these effects, the underlying comparatives for 2019 are EBITDA of €16.1 million, an 8.7% increase over 2018 and EBIT of €13.0 million, an increase of 7.4% over 2018.

In Eucon overall container volumes shipped were up 4.8% compared with the previous year at 343,450 teu (2018: 327,600 teu). The resulting revenue increase was partially offset by volume related costs while fuel costs were at a similar level to the prior year.

Containers handled at the group’s terminals in Dublin Ferryport Terminals (DFT) and Belfast Container Terminal (BCT) were up 3.5% at 320,800 lifts (2018: 310,000 lifts). DFT’s volumes were up 4.4%, while BCT’s lifts were up 2.1%.

Outlook

We look forward to continuing the growth trend achieved in 2019 which is testament to our investment in the business in driving efficiencies and nurturing close customer relationships. We are pleased with the commissioning of our new remotely operated RTGs and expect two additional units to be delivered in 2020. These will further drive efficiencies and increase operating capacity in our Dublin terminal. Following the extension to the concession agreement for the operation of Belfast Container Terminal, we are also looking forward to working with Belfast Harbour in planning for future investment at the Belfast facility.