AS Tallink Grupp Unaudited Consolidated Interim Report Q2 2015

Tallinn, 2015-08-13 08:50 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AS Tallink Grupp Unaudited Consolidated Interim Report Q2 2015

In the second quarter (1 April – 30 June) of the 2015 financial year AS Tallink Grupp and its subsidiaries’ (the Group) carried nearly 2.4 million passengers which is on the same level compared to the second quarter last year.  The Group’s unaudited revenue for the second quarter of 2015 increased by EUR 7.4 million or 3.0% year on year to the total of EUR 253.9 million, EBITDA increased by EUR 14.1 million or 34.3% to the total of EUR 55.2 million, compared to the same period last year. Net profit increased by EUR 22.4 million or 367.7% to the total of EUR 28.5 million, compared to the same period last year.

The Group’s revenue for the first six months of 2015 was EUR 444.0 million and increased by EUR 9.3 million or 2.1% year on year comparison. EBITDA increased by EUR 29.1 million to the total of EUR 74.6 million and net profit increased by EUR 32.5 million to the total of EUR 15.2 million, compared to the same period last year.

The Group made various changes to the operations during the past year, these changes have continued to positively affect the operating result in the second quarter with increased revenue and profitability.

In the second quarter the Estonia-Finland route revenue increased by 6.2%, driven by 4.8% growth in passenger number and 19.9% increase in cargo units, the cargo growth is supported mainly by added capacity. The Estonia-Sweden route, where capacity is lower than last year, experienced a 5.1% decrease in passengers and a 12.3% decrease in cargo volumes. The Latvia-Sweden route, operating with one vessel compared to two vessels last year, showed a decline with passenger numbers decreasing by 42.3%, cargo units transported decreased by 59.2%.

Throughout the second quarter price pressure from competition remained visible on all routes. The group was able to keep the total number of passengers on same level despite the total lower capacity from Latvia-Sweden route. The passenger number was supported by growth in Estonia-Finland and Finland-Sweden routes.

The upgrades of the public areas and improvements to restaurant and shop concept throughout the fleet in past year, combined with the operational changes, have resulted in a 2.0% increase in on-board revenue per passenger.

Due to the increased number of chartered vessels compared to the same period last year the revenue from charters increased by EUR 4.8 million or 57.8% to the total of EUR 13.2 million. Main contribution to the charter revenue growth comes from the Silja Europa charter agreement from August 2014 onwards.

In February 2015 AS Tallink Grupp and Meyer Turku Oy signed a contract for the construction of the new LNG powered fast ferry for Tallinn-Helsinki route shuttle operations. The ship will cost around EUR 230 million, 20% of the total cost will be paid during the construction period and the rest 80% upon the delivery of the vessel in the beginning of 2017. AS Tallink Grupp's subsidiary Tallink Line Ltd. and Nordea Bank Finland Plc have signed the loan agreement in June 2015 in amount of EUR 184 million with maturity of twelve years from drawdown to finance the construction of the new fast ferry in Meyer Turku shipyard. Finnish Export Credit Agency “Finnvera” guarantees 95% of this post-delivery buyer credit and the loan bears OECD Commercial Interest Reference Rate (CIRR) based fixed interest rate.

Two of the vessels that were chartered out, Silja Festival and Regina Baltica were sold in the second quarter of the 2015 financial year. The sale of the two vessels generated a positive cash flow of EUR 25 million which was used for the EUR 11.5 million down payment of the new LNG vessel and repayment of loans. Altogether the Group successfully continued the deleveraging strategy and the net debt decreased by EUR 62 million to a total of EUR 614 million in the second quarter resulting in a solid net debt to EBITDA ratio of 3.4.

In the first half year of 2015 the positive effect from chartering activities has been clearly visible as in the comparable period last year fewer ships were in charter. Looking forward to the second half of the 2015 financial year the chartering revenues will decrease compared to the previous year as Silja Europa charter becomes comparable with the last year and two ships previously in charter were sold in the second quarter of 2015.

In June 2015 AS Tallink Grupp agreed with the main fuel supplier to fix the price of approximately 30% of the fuel purchasing volume until the end of 2015.

In the second quarter of the 2015 financial year the Group’s gross profit amounted to EUR 62.4 million and EBITDA to EUR 55.2 million being respectively EUR 11.4 million and EUR 14.1 million more compared to the same period last year. The increase in the Group’s results is mainly attributed to the growth in passenger numbers, increased charter revenues and decreased costs related to operations. The increase in the pre-tax profit was affected by higher financial income mainly due to the increase in the fair value of derivative instruments (interest rate swaps) which resulted in EUR 7.3 million lower net finance cost.

The unaudited net profit for the second quarter of the 2015 financial year was EUR 28.5 million or EUR 0.04 per share compared to the net profit of EUR 6.1 million or EUR 0.01 per share in the same period last year.

In June 2015 the shareholders annual general meeting decided to pay a dividend of 0.02 euros per share. The total dividend amount of EUR 13.4 million was paid out in the beginning of July 2015 (third quarter).

Cash flow from operations increased by EUR 8.2 million when compared to the same period last year. The total liquidity, cash and unused credit facilities at the end of the second quarter was EUR 96.2 million providing a strong position for sustainable operations. At the end of the second quarter 2015 the Group had EUR 81.0 million in cash and equivalents and the total of unused credit lines were at EUR 15.2 million.

EBITDA:  Earnings before net financial items, taxes, depreciation and amortization;
Earnings per share: net profit / weighted average number of shares outstanding;
Equity ratio: total equity / total assets;
Shareholder’s equity per share: shareholder’s equity / number of shares outstanding;
Gross margin: gross profit / net sales;
EBITDA margin: EBITDA / net sales;
Net profit margin: net profit / net sales;
Net debt: Interest bearing liabilities less cash and cash equivalents;
Net debt to EBITDA: Net debt / 12-months trailing EBITDA.
¹ Share numbers exclude own shares.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME 

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION 

(unaudited, in thousands of euros) 

CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT 

         Veiko Haavapuu
         Finance Director
         
         AS Tallink Grupp
         Sadama 5/7. 10111 Tallinn
         Tel +372 640 9914
         E-mail veiko.haavapuu@tallink.ee