Baltic ferry company, Tallink Grupp has revealed that nearly 5.6 mill passengers travelled on its ferries last year.
EBITDA amounted to €175 mill, and net profit reached €40.3 mill. A dividend payment of €0.06 per share was proposed for the shareholders.
“The past few years have been challenging for the tourism and transport sector, and 2024 was no exception. We focused primarily on cost control, the successful operation of our main routes, and flexible opportunities to generate additional revenue.
“Considering the difficult economic environment across all our home markets, and the lowest consumer confidence levels in a decade, last year’s results were still satisfactory.
“We sincerely thank all our passengers and business partners, whose support has enabled us to provide jobs for nearly 5,000 people and contribute to the Estonian state budget through taxes.
“We are also pleased to once again offer dividends to our shareholders, at €0.06 per share, as decided by the Group’s Management and Supervisory Boards,” said CEO Paavo Nõgene.
The company’s total 2024 revenue was €786 mill, with loan and interest payments amounting to €116 mill.
As at the end of the financial year, the Group operated 14 vessels. Three vessels were chartered out during the year, while two ships remained awaiting deployment decisions.
The number of transported cargo units exceeded 303,000, and passenger vehicles transported totalled 777,000.
“Ships must sail, not remain idle—long-term docked vessels only generate costs for the company. A volatile economic environment challenges us to be more flexible and implement new business models.
“This year, we will closely monitor the performance of our main routes and seek chartering opportunities for vessels not currently in use on these routes. In this context, we are pleased that the Tallinn/Helsinki route has seen strong recovery following the crisis years.
“We are also optimistic about growth on the Paldiski/Kapellskär route, where the return of the ’Star I’ ferry has significantly improved the travel experience for car passengers. Additionally, we remain hopeful that the number of Swedish travelers on the Baltic Sea will start increasing again,” added Nõgene.
Finns accounted for almost half of 5.6 mill passengers carried. Around a quarter of the passengers travelled from Estonia, while Swedish travelers made up less than 10%, which was even fewer than those from other European countries.
Revenue from the Group’s most successful segment, the Estonia/Finland routes, increased by nearly €15 mill, compared to the previous financial year, reaching almost €313 mill. This segment’s overall result also improved to €81 mill
Tallink’s investments in 2024 amounted to €22.4 mill, with the majority allocated to ship maintenance and repairs, including technical upgrades and passenger area renovations, as well as investments in IT development.
“From a sustainable business perspective, it is important to highlight that we have significantly reduced our debt burden. The repayment of €87 mill in loans in 2024 is a remarkable achievement that supports stability in our core operations.
“Our primary goal as a management Board remains clear—to maintain our position as a stable, dividend-paying listed company,” Nõgene concluded.
Tallink has also announced that ‘Baltic Princess’, operating on the Turku/Stockholm route, will undergo planned maintenance at the BLRT Turku repair yard, in Naantali, Finland, from 27th February to 19th March 2025.
During the drydocking, in addition to regular technical maintenance work and upgrades, the vessel will have an extensive facelift of the main passenger areas, which will receive a new and modern interior design.
“The plans for the drydocking of ‘Baltic Princess’ are quite extensive, with a particular focus on the main passenger areas, which will receive a major facelift.
“The planned renovation of the vessel’s key passenger areas – including on board shops, one of the biggest a la carte restaurants, a cocktail bar and ships’ info desk lobby and more – will amount to nearly €4 mill, which constitutes about one half of the total cost of the planned drydocking.
“We hope our guests will be really pleased with the result, as it will elevate the travel experience on board ‘Baltic Princess’ to a new level of passenger comfort,” Tarvi-Carlos Tuulik, Tallink’s Head of Shipmanagement, said.
The new interior design of both the ship’s info lobby and the on board shops has been created by the Finnish interior design firm, Franz Design.
The a la carte restaurant Grill House will also be completely refurbished. The new interior design concept for the Grill House, created by Heikki Mattila, has already been launched on board the ‘Baltic Queen’. Similarly, the vessel’s Piano Bar will receive a complete makeover, designed by Marjut Nousiainen.
On 19th March, 2025, following sea trials, ‘Baltic Princess’ will return to service from Turku.
