Finnish ferry and logistics group Finnlines’ revenue for the first half of this year was €358 mill, compared to €336.4 mill in 1H23.
EBITDA amounted to €83.7 mill, compared to €89.6 mill in 1H23.
During the period, Finnlines transported 400,000 cargo units (356,000 in 1H23), 47,000 cars (86,000), and 658,000 tonnes (707,000 tonnes) of non-unitised freight.
In total, 409,000 (306,000) private passengers and professional drivers travelled with Finnlines.
Private passenger numbers have more than doubled on the route between Finland and Sweden via Åland Islands (Naantali/Långnäs/Kapellskär) after the introduction of two new ‘Superstar’ ropaxes.
Finnlines opened a new route between Malmö (Sweden) and Świnoujście (Poland) on 10th April, 2024 and an official inauguration took place on 28th May, 2024 in Malmö on the ropax ‘Finnfellow’.
Poland’s economy has grown faster compared to many other European countries during the last 30 years and thus Finnlines has a new important sea bridge between Sweden and Poland, which secures an important commercial trade route between the two ports and countries, the company said.
The prospects for the global economy seemed to be gradually improving during the second half of 2024. In June, the European Central Bank (ECB) finally decided to decrease interest rates by 0.25%, which should give a small boost to private consumption.
However, rapid ECB rate cuts are still needed in order to generate more industrial activity and real economic growth in the EU area, Finnlines said.
Finnlines’ €500 mill green newbuilding programme was completed in February this year when the new ropax, ‘Finncanopus’, started to operate on the Naantali via Långnäs to Kapellskär route.
During the last two years, four other new vessels, including the ropax, ‘Finnsirius’, and three Finneco ro-ros, have considerably added to Finnlines’ fleet capacity and are all equipped with many energy-saving and advanced green technology equipment.
Therefore, Finnlines was able to reduce the number of its older vessels and cut costs for greater efficiency and for improved logistics services.
Finnlines said it was also seeking further improvements by adjusting fleet operations to combine cargo flows more efficiently and fully utilise the economies of scale of the vessels and the whole fleet.
This also includes selling vessels, which have a too small capacity and/or no longer fulfil the environmental requirements.
Finnlines further claimed that it had a clear vision in its green strategy and will therefore invest even more in sustainability and in safeguarding the environment.
This includes the evaluation of another €400 mill – €500 mill green investment programme on the Finland/Germany route (Helsinki/Travemünde).
By continuing to invest more in green technology and in green fuel powered vessels, this will also lower the clients’ CO2 footprint even further, while the investments will also enable the company to remain the number one green carrier in the Baltic Sea.
