#FerrySell - Irish Continental Group (ICG) parent company of Irish Ferries, revealed today it has agreed to sell the €45 million sale of a passenger ferry to a New Zealand company, KiwiRail, as the Irish group reported that its revenues for the first four months for the year grew 4 per cent.

As the Irish Times reports the ferry, Kaitaki built in 1995 and previously operated under names including the Isle of Innisfree and Pride of Cherbourg, has been on charter outside ICG since 2002, most recently to KiwiRail.

The disclosure came in a trading update issued by ICG ahead of its annual general meeting in Dublin. “We consider €45 million for this 21-year-old vessel to be an attractive price,” said analysts at Investec in Dublin in a note to clients, adding that it will leave the group with net cash on the balance sheet.

ICG’s latest trading statement said that consolidated group revenue for the first four months of the year came to €95.1 million, up 4 per cent on the year, while net debt fell to €24.5 million from €37.9 million at the end of 2016.

For the year to May 13th, ICG’s Irish Ferries carried 103,200 cars, a decrease of 0.7 per cent on the same period last year, while roll-on, roll-off (RoRo) freight volumes fell by 1.7 per cent.

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