BELFAST Harbour, which handles 70 per cent of all seaborne imports and exports is the north, is heralding a "resilient performance" after posting a turnover and profits in line with expectations, despite a challenging global trading environment and the war in Ukraine which hit its tonnage.
In the year of the 175th anniversary of the formation of Belfast Harbour Commissioners, the harbour reported a 2022 turnover of £77.2 million (up five per cent on the previous year) and slightly improved underlying pre-tax profits of £34.3 million, which will all be reinvested.
Continuing the harbour’s long history of delivering transformative projects, last year saw £23.4m invested in port facilities and infrastructure projects. This included the completion of the Victoria Terminal 2 passenger facility.
Despite the global uncertainty and external challenges sparked by the war in Ukraine, port trade dropped only slightly on the record levels recorded in 2021, with total tonnage easing by 4.3 per cent to 24.5m tonnes.
Roll-on roll-off freight on Stena Line performed strongly, recording 600,000 freight units and equalling the record performance delivered in 2021.
The volume of ferry passengers travelling through the Port rose by 22 per cent year on year to 1.8 million people and the number of passenger cars reached a record high of 462,000, up 12 per cent on 2021 and reflecting a continued interest in staycations and local holidays.
The harbour welcomed a record 141 cruise ship calls in 2022 as the industry made a strong recovery following a reduced schedule the previous year.
The year also saw major investment in the 2,000-acre Harbour Estate, which included the completion of two landmark office buildings in City Quays 3 and Olympic House as well as the construction of Hamilton Road, a new Titanic Quarter link road between Queen’s Road and Sydenham Road.
With ambitions to create the largest European media hub outside London, work commenced on the expansion of Belfast Harbour Studios and productions from Netflix and Amazon Prime, including ‘The School for Good and Evil', directed by Paul Feig were secured.
Belfast Harbour also announced a partnership with Ulster University and NI Screen to deliver Studio Ulster, a Belfast Region City Deal project that will create a leading-edge virtual production facility adjacent the existing Belfast Harbour Studios site at Giant’s Park.
Dr Theresa Donaldson, chair of Belfast Harbour, said: “These strong results demonstrate the resilience and effectiveness of our trust port model, which enables us to reinvest our profits back into the development of our port and estate.
“Leveraging the diversity of our portfolio and our invaluable partnerships with our tenants, stakeholders and customers, Belfast Harbour is well on track to deliver its strategic ambitions to sustainably grow as a socially responsible port and as a key economic hub that delivers tangible social impact to the city and beyond.”
Joe O’Neill, chief executive of Belfast Harbour, added: “This robust financial performance reflects our strategic progress in growing as a world leading regional port and developing an iconic waterfront for the city.
“As we actively develop the next phase of our Port for Everyone strategy, Belfast Harbour takes a long-term strategic view, forward-investing in our port and estate for benefit of our stakeholders and the wider region.”
