Turnover grew, profit remained good

The cargo and passenger traffic passing through the Port of Helsinki remained busy in 2018. The turnover of the Port of Helsinki Ltd grew moderately, and the profit remained at a good level, as was expected.

The turnover increased to 96.6 million euros, which is 2% more than the previous year. The Port made a profit of 23.0 million euros (-5%), and the profit before closing entries and taxes was 13.5 million euros (-6%).

The most significant revenue items were cargo charges (32 MEUR), vessel charges (21 MEUR) and passenger charges (23 MEUR).

Key figures

 Million euro 2018 2017 2016
Turnover 96.6 95 89.7
Investmets 15.2 36.4 64.6
Grand total of the balance sheet 522.8 541.2 553.8
Change in the turnover, % 1.7 5.9 3.2
Turnover/ person-years, 1000 euro 640 601 561
Return on investment, % * 4.4 * 4.0 2.9
Equity ratio, % 63.6 60.5 58.1

* Return on investment adjusted with one-off instalments

Profit over target level

After taxes, the profit for the financial year of the Port of Helsinki Ltd was 10.6 million euros (-6%).

The operating costs of 33.3 million euros were 1.8% lower than the previous year, primarily because of more efficient operations.

The Port of Helsinki distributed half of its profits for the financial period as dividends to its owner, the City of Helsinki, i.e. approximately 5.3 million euros in total. Half of the profits were allocated to the development of the company’s business operations.

Productivity continued to improve

The main indicators of the productivity of the Port of Helsinki are the productivity index and turnover/personnel. Both indicators showed that productivity continued to improve in accordance with the targets.

The productivity index, which describes the development in total productivity, was 117.4 (+4%).

Investments to the Helsinki-Tallinn connection

The amount of money spent on investments was smaller than the previous years, at 15.2 million euros (-58%). The most significant investment targets were the following:

  • The new LHD quay in Hernesaari for international cruise traffic, approx. 4.6 MEUR
  • The finishing touches to West Terminal 2, which was opened in 2017, approx. 1.9 MEUR
  • Acquisition of shares for South Finland Port Service Ltd, approx. 0.9 MEUR
  • The new side ramp for LJ8 in West Harbour, approx. 0.7 MEUR

The Port of Helsinki’s investments in West Harbour and its traffic will continue in the coming years. In October, the European Commission granted the TWIN-PORT 3 project of the ports of Helsinki and Tallinn, the City of Helsinki and the shipping companies Tallink, Viking Line and Eckerö Line a total of 21.4 million euros of EU funding.

The total costs of the planned investments amount to 71.2 million euros. The Port of Helsinki Ltd’s share of the investments is 24 million euros, and correspondingly of the funding 8 million euros.

Read more