Tallink Grupp has filed a legal action against AS Tallinna Sadam (Port of Tallinn) at the Harju County Court with a claim in the total amount of EUR 15.4 million. With the action Tallink Grupp is demanding that the Port of Tallinn reimburses the company a part of the excessively high fees that were paid for the port services in the Old City Harbour (Tallinna Vanasadam).
Tallink Grupp reported an unaudited net loss of EUR 108.3 million for the 2020 financial year (net profit of EUR 49.7 million in 2019), resulting from travel restrictions, border closures and states of emergency due to the global COVID 19 pandemic.
Consolidated revenue amounted EUR 442.9 million (949.1 million)
EBITDA EUR 8.0 million (171.1 million)
Gross profit EUR -43.5 million
-62% passengers
-5.2% cargo units
-20% trips
Attempts to boost its operations by setting up various temporary routes during summer 2020 and by operating a number of special cruises where possible. These attempts were once again curbed in autumn 2020 by travel restrictions.
Investments EUR 100.1 million.
Mainly prepayment instalments for the new LNG-fuelled vessel MYSTAR (2022).
Also increasing the company’s cargo capacity by acquiring roro SAILOR.
The group ended the year with a total liquidity buffer of EUR 147.1 million (EUR 128.9 million in 2019).
Employee numbers: from 7240 at the end of 2019 to 4237 at the end of 2020.
Tallink Grupp’s CEO Paavo Nõgene: “As we wait for the COVID storm to pass and borders to reopen for travelling, we continue to develop business areas we feel will give us a strategic advantage going forward and enable us to spread risks, make preparations for offering our services again with an even stronger focus on safety and sustainability and get ready to provide safe and happy journeys and to reunite people around the Baltic sea after a year of separation.”
Tallink Grupp will require passengers travelling to Finland to present a negative COVID-19 test result certificate or a certificate from the GP evidencing that the passenger has recovered from coronavirus. The new requirement follows a strong recommendation from the Finnish Health Authority (Terveyden ja hyvinvointilaitos) to all shipping companies operating passenger ferries between Finland and neighbouring countries to introduce such a requirement.
In January 2021 AS Tallink Grupp transported
“Having started the year with over 7,200 dedicated employees in the group this year, we are faced with the reality of this number of good employees, dedicated and passionate tourism sector people in our company falling below the 5,000 mark by the end of this year.”
Tallink Grupp’s CEO Paavo Nõgene
Q3 is normally the high season for Tallink Grupp. This year it has been heavily affected by the pandemic and its travel restrictions.
EBITDA was EUR 5.7 million (EUR 83.2 million in Q3 2019)
Net loss was EUR 23.9 million (EUR 54.6 million in Q3 2019).
Q3 financial result was impacted by the following factors:
Outlook: “Due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation the earnings outlook has become uncertain and continues to be largely subject to external factors such as the states’ decisions regarding the timing of lifting of the travel restrictions, allowing passenger traffic as well as the duration of the recovery period.”
Tallink: Freight Status Quo, Passengers Dropped Sharply
September
Q3
Paavo Nõgene, CEO of Tallink Grupp said that Tallinks business model needs cargo AND passengers. “Putting travel restrictions in place for passengers strongly affects the operators’ income base. This is why it is important that support mechanisms are put in place by the Finnish government, who has introduced the new restrictions, for all passenger ferry operators to ensure that cargo transportation can continue smoothly and without incurring losses.”
Tallink Grupp has appointed Joonas Joost as the group’s Finance Director with effect from Monday, 7 September 2020.
1/9: ISABELLE laid up
6/9: VICTORIA I will operate Tallinn-Stockholm route and Riga-Stockholm route.
13/9: SILJA SERENADE will be suspended from traffic after it arrives in Helsinki from Riga. The vessel’s return to traffic will depend on the future developments of the pandemic situation, changes in travel restrictions between the countries and any decisions regarding government support for maritime transport services.
Lay-offs Finnish crew expected.
16/9: BALTIC QUEEN to replace SILJA SERENADE on Helsinki-Riga
Early October:
Tallink informed the company’s staff that it will this week notify the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund and the Estonian Independent Maritime Workers Union of commencing further collective redundancies processes.
In addition, the company has initiated a further collective redundancies process in Latvia.
Within the company’s Finnish subsidiary, extensive lay-offs of both onshore and onboard personnel are already in place, which will continue for now either full time or part time. Nearly all 1,200 Tallink Silja OY employees are affected by the lay-offs.
Altogether, the processes will impact up to 2,500 Tallink Grupp employees
Paavo Nõgene, CEO of Tallink Grupp, asked for support of the State. “Germany is a good example of the state offering vital support to businesses, with salary compensation schemes being extended in the country at least until the end of 2021.”
Tallink Grupp suspends the Turku-Tallinn route, which was temporarily launched in early July and which it originally planned to continue to operate throughout the coming autumn-winter season on weekends.
The route had proved extremely popular among the company’s customers during the summer period after travel restrictions were lifted between the two neighbouring countries.
„As a direct result of significant information noise and mixed messages circulating in the Finnish media, the ticket sales have significantly reduced as passengers are confused about the travel advice and nervous about a possibility of a quarantine. This has resulted in great numbers of customers cancelling their trips and requesting refunds instead,” Paavo Nõgene, CEO of Tallink Grupp commented.
“The tourism sector will be under significant pressure until at least until next summer. Decisive action by our governments is vital and requires swift action for the survival of our sector in this pandemic situation,” Nõgene said.