AS Tallink Grupp and its subsidiaries (the Group) carried a total of 9.26 million passengers in the 2012 financial year which is 1.3% more than the year before. The Group’s unaudited consolidated revenue grew 4% to EUR 943.9 million in the 2012 financial year. Gross profit was EUR 201.2 million, EBITDA EUR 165.5 million and unaudited net profit reached EUR 56.3 million (EUR 0.08 per share) which is 49% or EUR 18.6 million increase compared to the previous year, reported Tallink.
In the fourth quarter (1 October- 31 December) of the 2012 financial year the Group carried 2.1 million passengers, 1% more compared to the same period last year. The Group’s consolidated revenue in the fourth quarter increased by 4% to EUR 222.8 million. The net profit for the fourth quarter was EUR 5.7 million compared to the net profit of EUR 0.6 million in the same period last year.
The main contribution for the growth in total revenue in 2012 came from the increase from shops and restaurants sales by nearly EUR 30 million. The ticket sales have been under pressure throughout the 2012 year due to bad weather and tight competition. The positive development on shop and restaurant sales continued also in the fourth quarter showing 6% increase on absolute terms and 5% increase per passenger basis when compared to the fourth quarter of the previous year.
Significant fuel price increase in the first half of 2012 has had impact to the Group’s profit margins. In the fourth quarter of 2012 the prices were at the previous year levels. Despite the high fuel price movement in 2012 the Group has been able to make good sales performance and to increase the earnings for 2012 financial year. Noticeable impact to the year’s net profit came from the earlier closure of Finland-Germany route and the following profitable charter of the related vessels.
During the 2012 the Group has focused to upgrade and improve the visibility and appearance in the electronic sales channels. The new consumer marketing web pages were upgraded. Throughout the year the new version of online booking engine has been developed and is currently in the testing phase. The easiness, usability, convenience and price transparency of online booking have been the main focus areas. Tallink’s mobile booking application became available for Android and Apple mobile platforms.
In December 2012 the Group signed a new five-year loan agreement in amount of EUR 440 million to refinance several of its older loans. In result of the refinancing the Group’s total loan repayment schedule for the next few years was reduced to ensure stronger liquidity position. Due to early repayment of the loans the arrangement fees of these loans were written off as they were initially amortized over the period of the loan. The write off expense of EUR 3.2 million was recorded in Q4 2012.
In 2012 financial year the interest bearing bank debt reduced by EUR 119.2 million or 12.4%. The net debt at the end of 2012 was EUR 774 million and the net debt ratio to EBITDA was 4.68. At the end of December 2012 the Group had nearly EUR 66 million in cash and equivalents and the total of unused credit lines were EUR 50 million. The total liquidity, cash and unused credit facilities at the end of the fourth quarter were EUR 116 million providing a strong position for sustainable operations.