In the first quarter of the 2023 financial year, AS Tallink Grupp and its subsidiaries carried 1,049,777 pax, which is 45.7% more than in 1Q22.
The number of cargo units transported decreased by 14.9%, compared to the same period a year ago.
Tallink’s unaudited consolidated revenue amounted to €171.2 mill for the quarter (€106.1 mill in 1Q22), a rise of 61.3%.
Unaudited EBITDA was €27.1 mill (minus €11 mill in 1Q22) and the unaudited net loss for the period was €5.4 mill (net loss of €40 mill in 1Q22).
The following operational factors impacted revenue and operating results in 1Q23:
- growing demand for travelling supported by improving consumer confidence levels in all Group’s core markets
- ongoing war in Ukraine continues to impact the demand
- during the quarter, the Group operated 15 vessels including three shuttle vessels, two cargo vessels, four cruise ferries and six vessels that were chartered out (two on long-term and four on short-term charters)
- The Group operated three hotels in Tallinn, while the hotel in Riga has remained closed since October, 2020
- planned maintenance work totalled 45 days, which affected the Finland/Sweden segment’s first quarter passenger and cargo levels, as well as the financial result
- The Group continues to focus on cost savings from previously implemented measures and achieving profitable operations on its core routes
- Tallink regularly monitors the developments on its core routes including the capacity of each route and continues to look for chartering options for vessels not used on the main routes.
The number of passengers carried on the Estonia/Finland route increased by 46.6% year-on-year. However, the number of transported cargo units decreased by 8.8%. The revenue from the Estonia/Finland route increased by €16.1 mill to €57.4 mill.
This route increase reflected the operations of three shuttle vessels of which, ‘MyStar’ was added to the route in mid-December, 2022. The cruise ferry ‘Silja Europa’ stopped operating on the Tallinn/Helsinki route in August, 2022, due to a charter agreement. The cargo vessel ‘Sea Wind’ was sold at the end of April, 2022.
In 1Q23, the number of passengers on the Finland/Sweden routes increased by 35.5% year-on-year. The number of transported cargo units decreased by 53.8%. The routes’ revenue increased by €10 mill to €47.7 mill and the segment result improved by €10.5 mill to a loss of €3.3 mill. This segment reflected the operations of one cruise ferry on the Turku/Stockholm and two cruise ferries on the Helsinki/Stockholm route.
The cruise ferry ‘Galaxy’ stopped operating on Turku/Stockholm and Turku/Kapellskär routes from September 2022, due to a charter agreement.
On Estonia/Sweden routes, the number of passengers carried increased by 77.4% year-on-year. The number of transported cargo units also increased by 8.5%, compared to 1Q22. The revenue increased by €7.1 mill to €19.4 mill and segment result improved by €5.3 mill to a loss of €1.5 mill. This route reflected the operation of two cargo vessels and one cruise ferry in 1Q23.
Other revenue increased by €32.5 mill amounting to €47.8 mill. This increase was mainly driven by chartering out vessels, accommodation sales and to a lesser extent, by various catering and retail activities.
The shuttle vessel ‘Atlantic Vision’ was chartered to Canada in November, 2008. The current agreement runs until May, 2024 with an extension option for another 12 months. The charter agreement for the cruise vessel ‘Romantika’ was signed in March, 2022 for three years and with the option to extend the agreement (3+1+1). Short-term charter agreements were also signed for cruise vessels ‘Victoria I’, ‘Isabelle’, ‘Galaxy’ and ‘Silja Europa’.
At the end of the quarter, Tallink’s net debt amounted to €735.4 mill having decreased by €3.2 mill, compared to the end of 2022.
At the same time, the Group’s cash and cash equivalents amounted to €96.5 mill (€114.9 mill as at 31st December, 2022) and Tallink had €135 mill in unused credit lines.
During 1Q23, Tallink repaid loans amounting to €19.3 mill, while no repayments were made during the same period a year ago.
