Irish Continental Group PLC on Thursday said changes in volume have been mixed so far in its current year, although revenue slightly dropped.

The Dublin-based ferry operator said that so far in 2023, up to November 18, car volumes increased 12% to 588,700 from 524,700 for the same period in 2022.

RoRo Freight volumes increased 3.9% to 639,900. However container freight volumes dropped 15% to 248,500, while Terminal Lifts decreased 3.1% to 277,300.

Irish Continental also said that during the ten months that ended on October 31, revenue decreased 1.8% to €491.4 million compared with the year before.

For the Ferries division, total revenue rose 4.4% to €352.9 million from €338.0 million. Container & Terminal revenue, however, fell 13% to €165.4 million from €190.5 million. Irish Continental said this was mainly due to a reduction in volumes, caused by a weak deep-sea market.

‘This is a result of continued weak export and import levels in China, the continued effect of over stocking following the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent supply chain difficulties and the slowdown in world economic growth,’ the company said. ‘Our flexible business model has allowed us to adjust our shipping capacity to match the current demand situation.’

Shares in Irish Continental were up 6.1% at 399.00 pence on Thursday afternoon in London.

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