At its Annual General Meeting today, Dublin Port Company which operates Ireland’s largest port, handling over half of Ireland’s trade, announced it will pay a €6.5 million dividend to the State in June 2011 based on its Financial Results for the year ended 31 December 2010 together with a special dividend of €10 million. This will bring the total dividend payments to its shareholder to €36.6 million over the last five years.
At today’s AGM the Annual Report for 2010 was presented to the Shareholders in advance of publication later this year after it has been laid before the Oireachtas.
Dublin Port Company also outlined its trading outlook for the remainder of the year after a return to growth in throughput in 2010 following two years of decline in trade. These results showed an increase of 6.1% on the previous year to 28.1 million tonnes which is just 9% lower than the historic high of 30.9 million tonnes in 2007.
Addressing Dublin Port Company’s AGM, Ms. Lucy McCaffrey, the company’s chairperson, said; “I was pleased to report to our shareholders, the representatives of the Minister for Transport and Minster for Finance, that Dublin Port Company will pay a dividend of €6.5 million in respect of the 2010 financial out-turn along with a payment of a special dividend of €10 million. The €16.5m paid this year will bring total distributions to €36.6 million in a five year period. In addition to paying a dividend to our shareholder we remain committed to investing in the port’s infrastructure to ensure that Dublin Port remains the efficient modern competitive port it has become. We recently launched a major consultation exercise with all our stakeholders to create a Masterplan for the future development of Dublin Port to ensure that it can continue to serve the trading needs of the city and country for generations to come.”
Speaking about the financial performance of Dublin Port Company for 2010, Dr. Leo Varadkar TD, Minister for Transport said; "I congratulate the company on its strong financial performance for 2010 which has enabled it to pay a further dividend to the State. It is encouraging that the company remains a profitable enterprise which continues to pay a dividend to the State, in line with current Government policy in relation to the commercial State companies. Furthermore, it is encouraging that the financial strength of the company will allow it to invest significantly in the future development without recourse to exchequer funding. This country's return to economic prosperity will be export-led and Irish ports will play an important role in facilitating that trade. In this regard the current Masterplan consultation process the company has embarked on is a timely and necessary exercise in preparing for the future."
Date Published: Thursday 28. of April 2011