The results of the first quarter were mostly affected by the restrictions on the movement of passengers imposed in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as a result of which several passenger ships of international lines stopped their traffic, the group announced via a press release.

As a result, the group's revenues from shipping fees and, due to the lack of passengers, passenger fees decreased even more significantly. However, the continuation of freight transport kept many passenger ships in service, some of them with a sparse schedule.

The group's adjusted EBITDA was €16.2 million in the first quarter, declining by 4.1 percent year-on-year. Profit decreased by €1.1 million to €10 million in the first quarter.

In the first quarter, the volume of investments more than doubled compared to the same period last year, mainly due to the continuation of the construction works of the passenger terminal D and the beginning of the construction of the cruise terminal in the Old City Harbor and the dredging and expansion works of the entrance channel of the Paldiski South Harbor.

Revenue for the first quarter of 2020 decreased by €0.6 million, i.e. 2.2 percent, year on year. In terms of revenue streams, the biggest drop was in electricity sales: €0.5 million, i.e. 28 percent, due to a decline in the consumption of electricity and network service at harbors (a mild winter being a factor) and a decrease in the price of electricity. Revenue increased in the segments of ferry and other but decreased in passenger harbours and cargo harbours segments.

Revenue of passenger harbors decreased mainly in passenger fees (€-400,000) due to a decrease in the number of passengers in the second half of March as a result of movement restrictions imposed in connection with COVID-19. The decrease was offset by an increase of nearly €200,000 in vessel dues revenue, which resulted mainly from growth in the estimated average annual port call revenue, attributable to a decrease in the average vessel-based discount on tonnage charges resulting from a decline in the annual number of port calls (due to the COVID-19 measures).

The revenue of the cargo harbours segment decreased by almost €400,000, mainly due to a decrease in revenue from electricity and network charges (through the combined effect of a decrease in consumption and the electricity price). Revenue from vessel dues and cargo charges decreased somewhat because of a fall in the number of port calls by container ships and an increase in the volume and share of liquid bulk cargo whose charges are lower than those of other cargo types.

Ferry segment revenue grew by €200,000 i.e. by 2.8 percent, mainly because the fee rates, which are linked to the Estonian consumer and fuel price indices and wage inflation, were higher than in the comparative period.

The revenue of the segment Other grew through the indexation of the contractual fees of the icebreaker Botnica to the Estonian consumer price index.

The group's CFO Marko Raid told at a webinar during which Tallink's financial results were introduced that the Port of Tallinn is continuing with planned investments.

"I personally see that passenger traffic on the Tallinn-Helsinki line will be restored swiftly, in regards to the Stockholm line and cruises it is difficult to say, but we are preparing for that, too," Valdo Kalm, Port of Tallinn CEO said.

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