Cargo traffic was busy, yet the pandemic kept the entire company’s result negative for the second year in a row
Passenger traffic at the ports of Helsinki was at an exceptionally low level in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but cargo traffic reached a record-breaking level. The company’s turnover was EUR 68.8 million. The result was clearly negative, but the company’s financial position as a whole remains strong, however.
- The turnover of EUR 68.8 million marked a 2.5% increase from the previous year.
- The most significant revenue items were cargo charges (EUR 34.0 million), vessel charges (EUR 13.5 million) and passenger charges (EUR 6.7 million).
- Profits totalled EUR -7.7 million (-5.3% compared to the previous year).
- Loss for the financial year totalled EUR -15 million.
Key figures
| Million euros | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turnover, Meur | 95.6 | 67.2 | 68.8 |
| Investmets, Meur | 11.7 | 23.8 | 18 |
| Grand total of the balance sheet, Meur | 504.0 | 489.9 | 442.0 |
| Change in the turnover, % | -1.1 | -29.6 | 2.5 |
| Turnover/ person-years, 1000 euro | 212 | -31 | -99 |
| Return on investment, % | 3.9 | -0.5 | -1.7 |
| Equity ratio, % | 66.6 | 65.4 | 68.2 |
In 2021, the Port of Helsinki Ltd received a total of EUR 1.2 million in business cost support granted by the state.
In total, the company’s operating costs were EUR 31.7 million, marking a 14% increase from the previous year. With the implementation of the Port’s development programme, additional depreciations were made in the 2021 financial year on structures to be demolished, totalling approximately EUR 1.5 million.
For the most part, the nature of the revenue generated from the Port’s business operations is such that it changes in accordance with traffic volumes. The company’s expenditure, on the other hand, consists primarily of fixed costs. In a situation such as the currently prevalent pandemic, implementing effective adjustment measures was challenging.
Productivity down with the result
The Port of Helsinki Ltd’s productivity is monitored with the productivity index and the turnover per person-year key figure.
In 2021, the productivity index depicting the development of the company’s total productivity decreased to 90.7 points, marking a 1.5-point decrease from the previous year.
The effects of the pandemic on the Port’s business operations could also be seen in a decrease in the turnover per person-year figure. The figure was EUR -99,000 (2020: EUR -31,000).
Investments
In 2021, the Port of Helsinki’s investments totalled approximately EUR 18 million. The deepening of the Vuosaari fairway was completed on schedule, and the fairway has been put into use.
The most significant investments of the year included
- Deepening of the Vuosaari fairway (EUR 8.0 million)
- Double ramp at Vuosaari Harbour berth VA8 (EUR 2.9 million)
- Extension of the RoRo ramps and piers of Vuosaari Harbour (EUR 0.9 million)
- Pavement structure work at Vuosaari Harbour (EUR 0.8 million)
- New transformer built at Katajanokka Harbour (EUR 0.7 million)
- West Harbour, parking equipment and software of the Royal Park car park (EUR 0.7 million)