Annual Report and Financial Statements 2007 - Finnlines

BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Finnlines operates mainly in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. Unitised cargo traffi c is growing strongly in the Baltic
Sea, due among other factors to increasing traffi c volumes in Russia. As more and more companies cease to main-
tain stocks, delivery reliability in the transport chain, information management and departure frequency become ever
more important. High fuel oil prices make up a major expense factor in the transport sector as a whole.
THE FINNLINES FLEET
The last three new Star-class ro-pax vessels were delivered and
put into service. One of them started plying between Helsinki
and Travemünde together with her two sister vessels, which were
delivered in 2006, and two in Travemünde–Malmö traffi c during
the year under review.
Finnlines is also renewing its purely cargo-focused ro-ro fl eet,
shifting the emphasis onto owned tonnage in these type of vessels
as well. In 2007, the Group placed an order for six 10,500
DWT ro-ro vessels from Jinling shipyard in China. The vessels
are to be delivered in 2010–2011. During the year, the Group had
an average of 41 vessels in traffi c, consisting of 23 ro-ro, 15 ropax
and 3 other vessels. At year-end, the total capacity of the roro
liner fl eet was approximately 87,000 lane metres. At year-end,
the Group owned 15 vessels, which was equivalent to approximately
55 per cent of its ro-ro capacity. The average age of the
Group’s tonnage was approximately 8 years. The owned fl eet is
managed by the Group.
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
FINNLINES 2007
Revenue 2003–2007 **,
EUR million
03 04* 05* 06* 07*
* IFRS
** Figures for 2003–2004 have not been divided into continuing
and discontinuing operations.
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Operating profi t 2003–2007 **,
EUR million
03 04* 05* 06* 07*
ROUTE NETWORK
In 2007, Finnlines operated around 70 weekly departures from
Finland, covering all of Finland’s major ports. The main general
cargo traffi c ports were Helsinki, Turku and Naantali. Other liner
traffi c ports for Finnlines were Kotka, Hamina, Hanko, Rauma
and Kemi.
The main ports used in Sweden were Kapellskär and Malmö,
while the main port in Denmark was Århus, in Poland it was
Gdynia, and in Germany Lübeck/Travemünde, which was the
most important port for both Finnish and Swedish routes. The
main ports in the North Sea region were Antwerp and Zeebrügge
in Belgium, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and Hull in the UK.
The main port in the Bay of Biscay was Bilbao, in Spain. Finnlines
also had a direct link between St. Petersburg and Lübeck
(TransRussiaExpress).
* IFRS
Breakdown of
revenue 2007, %
15% 85%
Shipping and sea transport
services
Port operations
9