Comments from President and CEO Jan Hanses:

“As usual, the third quarter has been crucial for the company’s earnings. However, the consumer caution that characterized the two previous quarters has continued. The Finnish economy is slowly recovering, with continued low inflation, but so far this has not been reflected in consumer behaviour. The weak Swedish krona has continued to erode purchasing power in the Swedish market. Third quarter results were somewhat worse than for the same period in 2023, with September in particular showing a weakening.

The launch of service for Gotland Alandia Cruises has entailed additional one-off costs, and occupancy rates on the vessel BIRKA GOTLAND during the period up to June did not correspond to our expectations. Occupancy rates improved during the summer and are expected to remain at a good level during the autumn.

Service during the third quarter continued without any accidents or unplanned service disruptions.

Results for the first nine months of the year, eliminating one-off items, were thus weaker than for the same period last year, but in line with the revised forecast communicated to the market in conjunction with the company’s six-month financial report in August. We succeeded in continuing to offset the costs of emission allowances that are to be surrendered starting next year by reaching our targets for ticket prices charged. The geopolitical situation, with war in nearby regions, has not had any noticeable impact on people’s propensity to travel in our main markets but combined with the turmoil in the Middle East contributes to continued uncertainty about energy prices.

The outlook for this autumn is dominated by a continued high degree of uncertainty, and measures are being taken to deal with the uncertain trend for consumer demand.

Maritime transport is impacted at present by upcoming changes in environmental standards. Starting this year, our operations are subject to the EU Emissions Trading System, which means that we are now obliged to shoulder the cost of emission allowances, which in the medium term we can only partly offset through our continued energy efficiency work. The lack of alternative fuels at realistic prices is the greatest challenge for the industry. Viking Line works actively for reduced emissions in various projects. Passengers and cargo customers on the Turku–Mariehamn/Långnäs-Stockholm route can now reduce their climate impact by purchasing renewable biofuel in proportion to the amount used for their travel and thus reduce fossil carbon dioxide emissions from their journey by up to 90 per cent. Viking Line is also involved in two major projects where work is being carried out to create green transport corridors for the Helsinki-Tallinn and Turku-Åland-Stockholm routes.

The first six months of 2024 entailed changes in our operations, with expanded service between Finland and Sweden and the introduction of cruise service from Stockholm in partnership with Gotlandsbolaget. This has entailed changes for our staff in the form of switches to other vessels and a reflagging of VIKING CINDERELLA to a Finnish flag.  

I would like to extend my warm thanks to our customers and partners for the faith they have shown in us and their good cooperation. I would also like to give a big thank you to our staff for their fine performance especially during our peak season, when the work load is particularly intense.

In the years since the COVID pandemic, we have succeeded in achieving an improved level of results compared to before the pandemic. We are achieving results that are necessary to support the investments we have made and give us the opportunity to also look forward to a continued rejuvenation of our fleet. At the same time, we face environmental requirements that are far more stringent and which current technology and infrastructure have not found a solution for.

Since our markets are expected to be weaker at least in the near future, we need to continue our efficiency work in order to maintain the improvements in results we have achieved over the past two years.

Efficiency work entails not just cuts and savings measures. Quality of service and increased sales are equally important aspects, and everyone must work together to achieve the results we are striving for.

I am convinced that we can take on this challenge and create conditions needed for the continued profitable development of the company.”

Full report here https://news.cision.com/viking-line-abp/r/viking-line-as-expected--q3-reflects-a-challenging-market,c4056287

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