Finnlines Plc Financial Statements 2018 and Financial Review January–December 2018

28. februari 2019

EMANUELE GRIMALDI, PRESIDENT AND CEO, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE REVIEW:

“The Finnlines Group’s January–December 2018 result increased by EUR 12.5 million to EUR 95.1 million. Revenue also increased by 9.9 per cent to EUR 589.4 million during January–December 2018. During the fourth quarter, the cargo volumes remained strong, increasing the revenue compared to last year from EUR 131.8 million to EUR 141.5 million. The result for October–December was EUR 19.7 (14.8) million.

Our strategy, to grow together with our customers, to increase efficiency of the capital employed on our fleet and to continue investing in sustainable development, is paying off. We are growing with the market and for the market. The 2018 result is a continuation of our successful track record over the past few years.

Finnlines has and will continue to deploy larger and larger vessels in both the ro-pax and ro-ro segments, creating economies of scale, and has also focused on route and vessel optimisation. All this has improved the utilisation of our fleet assets. In April 2018, we initiated a EUR 200 million Green Ro-ro Investment Programme by ordering three new green 5,800-lane-metre ro-ro vessels. But that is not all – we are currently designing and developing a new ro-pax class concept for Finnlines. These Superstar ro-pax vessels will be bigger than our existing largest Star class vessels and they will also meet the highest technical and environmental standards. These major investments will further contribute to reducing fuel consumption as well as CO2 and other emissions.

Shipping is global business and undoubtedly the most sustainable way of transportation. Shipping companies play an important role in developing solutions to reduce emissions. Within our industry, the International Maritime Organization has set a very high target – a 50 per cent reduction – in the key greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, compared with the 2008 levels. Apart from CO2, sulphur dioxide emissions (SO2) must be reduced further. At Finnlines, we began installing emission abatement systems several years ago and 19 of our 21 vessels have been fitted with this technology. Reducing fuel consumption and cutting harmful emissions have been one of the key elements of our Group’s strategy for a long time.

In order to survive in an industry facing public pressure on business operations to put the environment first, demands from customers for smarter business processes and, above all, vast regulations designed to reduce emissions, Finnlines has to constantly upgrade its fleet and make use of technological advances throughout the supply chain. Saying this we have invested over EUR 1 billion during the past decade. And even more – we will continue to implement our strategy with determination and with consistency by investing over EUR 500 million more in the coming three to four years for our customers who will grow together with us.”

FURTHER INFORMATION

Tom Pippingsköld, Chief Financial Officer, tel. +358 40 519 5041, tom.pippingskold@finnlines.com

Attachments:
Finnlines Financial Statements 2018: https://www.finnlines.com/file/4276/download?token=RkyWf-5b

Finnlines Q4 2018: https://www.finnlines.com/file/4277/download?token=p3U0aEuI

Finnlines Plc

Finnlines is a leading shipping operator of ro-ro and passenger services in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. The Company is a part of the Grimaldi Group, one of the world’s largest operators of ro-ro vessels and the largest operator of the Motorways of the Sea in Europe for both passengers and freight. This affiliation enables Finnlines to offer liner services to and from any destination in the Mediterranean, West Africa as well as the Atlantic coast of both North and South America.