#IrishFerries - Irish Ferries a division of owners Irish Continental Group (ICG) reported a 1.6pc rise in revenues in the year so far, and said it has a low level of exposure to sterling.

As the Independent.ie writes the company behind Irish Ferries, which operates between Ireland and Britain, said in a trading update that the impact of the plunge in sterling since the Brexit vote in June had so far been offset by lower costs.

The company said it had a low level of net sterling exposure. In the 10 months to the end of October, (ICG) consolidated revenue was €280.2m, up 1.6pc from a year ago, it said.

Net debt stood at €25.6m at the end of the period, compared to €44.3m at the end of 2015. Construction of a new cruise ferry announced on May 31 remains on schedule for delivery in May 2018, the company said.

For more detailed financial trading figures released by ICG click here 

Afloat adds that their ropax ferry MV Kaitaki (formerly Isle of Inishfree) remained on charter, operating in New Zealand, while four container ships (see EUCON trading results report) acquired in late 2015 were fully deployed in the period.

Also previously covered on Afloat, the charterer of the HSC Westpac Express exercised their option to extend the charter for a further period of up to 12 months to October 2017. The charter is subject to usual US government procurement regulations and the charterer has further options to extend the charter up to mid 2021.

The construction of a new 50,000 gross tonnage cruise ferry costing €144m announced in May this year remains on schedule for delivery in May 2018.