Irish Continental Group is a focused provider of maritime passenger and freight services with its principal operations in Northwest Europe. The Group operates through two divisions: the Ferries Division, whose principal activities include passenger and RoRo freight shipping services under the Irish Ferries brand together with ship chartering activities, and the Container and Terminal Division, whose principal activities include LoLo shipping activities under the Eucon brand and the operation of two container terminals, Dublin Ferryport Terminals (DFT) and Belfast Container Terminal (BCT), within the two main ports on the island of Ireland. Key risks and uncertainties affecting the Group are set out on pages 67 to 71.
Further details on these operations are set out in the Strategic Report on pages 24 to 34.
There are two principal elements to the Group’s strategy for delivering value to shareholders:
Investment in quality assets in order to achieve economies of scale consistent with a superior customer service
Benchmarking costs to industry best practice to enable the Group to compete vigorously in its chosen markets.
This strategy is supported by our five strategic pillars
Quality service
People and culture
Financial management
Safety
Sustainability
The key resources supporting delivery of this strategy include
A modern ferry fleet
Long term leasehold interests and operating agreements
Access to strategically located ports and slot times
Experienced qualified staff
Recognised brand names
Access to financial resources