In its Q1 Business Review Viking Line describes the competition as tough. This will imply continued pressure on prices and volumes.
The company also expects higher bunker prices, and sees the exchange rate trend for the Swedish krona as a risk factor.
Deltamarin wrote an article about Viking Line and their efforts to operate in a more environmental-friendly way. Main focus is on the use of wind energy as an additional source of thrust on board their vessels.
Full-year and Q4 results for Viking Line
Viking Line’s full-year results deteriorated slightly, but the 4th quarter operating income improved significantly.
Full year key figures:
Consolidated sales €522.7 million (+0.6%)
Operating income €10.0 million (down from €13.7 million).
Passenger-related revenue €476.4 million (+0.8%)
Cargo-related revenue €43.8 million (-1.1%)
Bunker expenses increased by 18.3%, mainly because of high-speed craft VIKING FSTR.
Cargo units went slightly down. Full year results 127,668 (131,918)
Cars went up. Full year results 762,253 (682,194)
Passengers went up. Full year results 6,881,149 (6,502,191).
Viking Line Abp has decided not to exercise the option to construct another vessel included in its shipbuilding contract with Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry Co., Ltd. The option has expired.
Juan Carlos Diaz Lorenzo reveals in Puente de Mando (in Spanish) the new name for the ferry under construction at the Vulcan Shipyard in Vigo for Trasmediterranea. We’re talking about the ferry that was originally ordered by Viking Line as VIKING ADCC.
Her name will be VILLA DE TEROR. The town of Teror is a municipality in the province of Las Palmas, located north of Gran Canaria.
Photo: Juan Carlos Diaz Lorenzo
AGA Gas and Viking Line have signed a new six-year agreement for continued LNG shipments to VIKING GRACE and to the new LNG-powered cruise ship under construction in China.
The SEAGAS LNG bunker vessel, which came into operation in the spring of 2013, supplies VIKING GRACE with more than 60 tonnes of LNG at every bunkering occasion, as the ship is moored at Stadsgården in Stockholm, and whilst passengers and freight are being (un)loaded. SEAGAS has so far carried out nearly 1,400 LNG bunkerings for VIKING GRACE.
Photo: SEAGAS ©Mike Louagie
The SMA (Swedish Maritime Administration) will introduce a new fee system for its fairway dues and pilot fees. It is the intention of the SMA to implement this new system on 1 January 2018.
Two of the taxation components are the passenger and cargo fees, which affect the ferry industry.
To see the full explanation about the fees, click on the link below.
Finnish politicians and ferry owners, such as Viking Line, have protested. The new system means, in short, that the more passengers and the more freight a ship carries, and the more often it arrives at a Swedish port, the more expensive it will be for the operator.
Wärtsilä will supply the engines, the navigation system, and a broad scope of other products and systems for the environmentally friendly cruise ferry being built for Viking Line. The ship is being built at the Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry yard in China and there is an option for a second vessel.
Commencing in early 2021, the new vessel will operate between Turku and Stockholm. The ship is the first LNG fuelled ferry of this size and standard to be built in China.
Viking Line Group published its results for the first 3 quarters:
Consolidated sales: EUR 399.6 million (397.3 million)
Operating income: EUR 6.3 million (14.8 million).
Consolidated income before taxes: EUR 4.6 million (11.6 million).
Income after taxes: EUR 3.8 million (9.7 million).
In last week’s newsletter we already wrote that Viking Line’s assessment is that operating income for 2017 will decline, mainly because of the competition and the bunker prices.
In its revised earnings forecast for the 2017 financial year, Viking Line’s assessment is that operating income for 2017 will decline, compared to operating income for 2016.
The reasons are: