Stena Line, DFDS, Ørsted and Liquid Wind will form a partnership with the Port of Gothenburg to establish an electromethanol (e-fuels) hub.
- SOLVAir Marine team facilitated the joint collaboration of three partners: Solvay, Andritz and La Méridionale.
- The result of this collaboration is the installation of the world’s first dry exhaust gas treatment system on the vessel PIANA.
- With its 30 years’ experience, Solvay brought technical support during the engineering, construction and operation phases, with a specific focus on the injection of dry sorbent; Solvay also supplied the sodium-based sorbent and safely managed the residues.
- Andritz designed, built, and delivered the equipment, integrated on the vessel under La Méridionale’s responsibility.
- PIANA is the first vessel running SOLVAir Marine Solution.
- SOLVAir Marine teams, Andritz representatives and La Méridionale have run a trial of 6 months to test the efficiency of the solution on vessels running on High Sulphur Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) engines.
- All-time passenger record on the Turku-Mariehamn-Stockholm route: 740,000 people travelled with VIKING GLORY and VIKING GRACE between June and August.
- New VIKING GLORY has attracted a larger share of younger adults, who in many cases are taking a ‘cruise’ for the first time.
- Younger adults are attracted by the food and the luxurious spa and massage treatments – which have also been fully booked on many departures.
- A total of nearly 2 million passengers sailed on all of Viking Line’s vessels during the three summer months.
- The destination cruises with VIKING CINDERELLA and GABRIELLA to Visby, Bornholm, Ystad and Sweden’s High Coast, among other places, were also popular this past summer, and a number of departures were fully booked.
- Service between Helsinki and Stockholm has also started to take off post-pandemic, with people showing a strong interest in experiencing the
January–March 2022 (compared to January–March 2021)(in EUR)
- Sales amounted to 58.8 million (24.6 million)
- Other operating revenue was 6.0 million (10.3 million)
- Operating income totalled -18.1 million (-7.7 million)
- Net financial items were -2.2 million (-1.3 million).
- Income before taxes amounted to -20.3 million (-8.9 million)
- Income after taxes totalled -16.2 million (-7.2 million)
- Viking Line is not providing any outlook, above all, in view of the geopolitical situation, it is still too soon to quantify the impact on operating income for 2022, which is the same conclusion at the time the previous earnings report was published.
Like 2020, 2021 was an exceptional year, with an unfavourable operating environment. At the same time, Viking Line experienced some positive events too. MARIELLA was sold in May, and in December the new climate-smart VIKING GLORY was delivered.
Traffic statistics 2021
- +20.1% passengers
- largest increase on Turku–Åland–Stockholm (+51.9%)
- -11.3% on Helsinki–Åland–Stockholm
- +81.8% Mariehamn—Kapellskär with ROSELLA
- -21.1% Helsinki—Tallinn, with VIKING XPRS
- +2.9% cargo units
- +24% cars
Viking Line ended Q3,2021 with good liquidity. To further help implement Viking Line’s strategy for continued profitable growth in a post-pandemic environment, a preferential share issue for existing shareholders was carried out during the autumn, which was a success. There was great interest among shareholders, employees and the general public in the share issue, which was oversubscribed. Initially a total of 8,584,070 shares were subscribed for, which corresponds to about 132.5% of the offer shares. The final number of shares was 6,480,000. As a result, Viking Line generated proceeds of about EUR 51.8 million.
Q3
- Revenue EUR 97.5 million (EUR 56.6 million)
- Operating income EUR 26.0 million (EUR -7.8 million)
- Q3 results were characterized by a steady increase in demand in the passenger segment and continued stable demand for cargo transport.
Q1+Q2+Q3
- Revenue EUR 169.0 million (EUR 154.2 million)
- Operating income EUR 30.5 million (EUR -35.2 million)
- Income before taxes EUR 27.1 million (EUR -38.3 million)
- Income after taxes EUR 22.7 million (EUR -30.8 million)
The outlook for the financial year 2021 is unchanged compared to the Half-Year Report as of June 30, 2021, which means positive operating income for the full-year 2021.
An Extraordinary General Meeting, to be held on November 22, will decide to issue new shares to strengthen the capital structure as well as the financial and liquidity position.
The goal is to raise 50 million in equity.
The subscription price would indicatively be EUR 8.00 per share and shareholders of the Company would be entitled to subscribe for 3 new shares for each five 5 shares held by such shareholder.
August 31, 2021. The City of Turku has redeemed the terminal in Turku owned by Viking Line. The terminal and related facilities are located in an area in the Port of Turku leased by Viking Line.
Under the original lease agreement, the buildings were to be redeemed on December 31, 2025, but since the Port of Turku decided to begin a major refurbishment of the port and its facilities, the City of Turku now redeems the properties.
The redemption entails an accounting profit of EUR 13.5 million for Viking Line Abp and strengthens the company’s liquidity with EUR 7.9 million.
Half-year Financial Report January–June 2021 (compared to January–June 2020)
- Sales EUR 71.5 million (97.5)
- Passenger-related revenue decreased 34.1% to EUR 50.1 million (76.0), while cargo revenue was EUR 20.4 million (20.7)
- Other operating revenue EUR 33.6 million (16.1)
- Operating income EUR 4.5 million (-27.4)
- Net financial items EUR -2.4 million (-2.1)
- Income before taxes EUR 2.2 million (-29.5)
- Income after taxes EUR 2.7 million (-23.7)
Key Figures H1
Passengers 538,348 (998,483)
Market share pax 32.1% (27.0%)
Cargo units 65,214 (62,409)
Market share cargo 16.8% (17.1%)
Market share pax cars 31.4% (24.1%)
Outlook
- The outlook for the financial year 2021 is better than the outcome for 2020.
- Improved demand starting late in Q2, 2021 together with one-off items in the form of the sale of MARIELLA and the anticipated redemption of Viking Line’s terminal buildings including fixtures and fittings with the City of Turku will boost income.
- Uncertainty about how authority requirements, State aid, the impact of vaccination programmes and related restrictions on passenger traffic as well as market demand will affect Viking Line’s operations, results and financial position for the full-year 2021, but on the whole the Board of Directors believes operating income will be positive.
Second quarter 2021 (compared to second quarter 2020)
- Sales amounted to EUR 46.9 million (22.6)
- Operating income EUR 12.2 million (-5.9)
- Covid-19 continues to dominate the company’s operations and results, but at the end of Q2 Viking Line saw increased demand for services between Åland, Finland and Sweden.
- Traffic between Finland and Estonia has been greatly affected by restrictions.
- Results for the second quarter were dominated by Viking Line’s public service obligations (*) and cargo transports, but an increase in demand in the passenger sector was also discernible at the end of the period.
(*) During H1, the Group received aid for its public service obligations from Traficom for the Group’s vessels on the Turku–Mariehamn/Långnäs–Stockholm, Mariehamn-Kapellskär and Helsinki–Tallinn routes. It also received aid from the Development and Management Centre of Finland’s Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (known as ELY centres) and from Finland’s Local Employment and Economic Development Offices. The aid is recognized as State aid under other operating revenue.
Key highlights in H1, 2021
- Group revenue generated totalling €141.6 million, €10.8 million more than HY 2020
- RoRo freight travel patterns affected by new customs requirements following the exit of the UK from the EU.
- EBIT generated was a loss of €10.3 million, €0.8 million worse than HY 2020.
- EBITDA generated of €12.7 million, €2.7 million more than HY 2020.
- Gross cash balances of €131.1 million (31 December 2020: €150.4 million).
- Net debt at €112.1 million, €23.6 million higher than at the beginning of the year.
- No interim dividend declared (2020: nil).
- Commencement of a new ferry service between Dover (UK) and Calais (France) on 29 June. Second ship to be added in September.
- Further investment in environmentally friendly port equipment at Dublin Ferryport Terminals and increased capacity from 2022.
Commenting on the results, Chairman John B. McGuckian noted;
- Covid-19 pandemic continued to create an exceptionally challenging trading environment for the Group.
- The Group welcomes the introduction of the EU Digital Covid Certificate and the easing of restrictions on non-essential passenger travel, however, the timing of its introduction limits the benefits for the key summer season.
- On 31 December 2020, the UK and EU ended the post Brexit transition period. While trade flows have decreased between Ireland and Britain, our flexible fleet has allowed us to adjust capacity on our direct continental RoRo and container shipping services. While this has led to a reduction in RoRo volumes, the change in yield mix has resulted in increased RoRo revenues. This increase in revenue is particularly encouraging as it is against the backdrop of both the Covid-19 pandemic and the introduction of customs requirements on the Irish Sea.
- Still of concern to the Group is the lack of implementation of appropriate checks on goods arriving into Northern Ireland from Britain, which are required under the Northern Ireland Protocol. To the extent that goods are destined for the Republic of Ireland, this is causing a distortion in the level playing field as goods that arrive directly into the Republic of Ireland ports from Britain are being checked on arrival.
Some figures for ICG subsidiary Irish Ferries
-47.3% Car volumes (‘000) 29.8 (56.6)
-43.2% Passenger volumes (‘000) 132.8 (233.9)
-15.2% RoRo freight volumes (‘000) 126.7 (149.4)
Viking Line has invested in Fleet Management System SERTICA, which will be implemented on their 6 existing vessels and the newbuild VIKING GLORY.
Jonas Rosenqvist, Technical Superintendent at Viking Line tells, “We are looking forward to start using SERTICA. I believe the app will have great impact on our daily work as it supports us both in maintenance and in relation to inspections. In the end, this means improved safety and comfort to our passengers.”
The fleet management system includes maintenance, procurement, safety and apps.