Superfast Ferries Remains Greece-Italy Leader

For the eighth consecutive year, Superfast Ferries held the leading position for the transportation of passengers and freight units on the Greece-Italy route in the Adriatic Sea. Last year, the company’s market share for passengers was 24.2%, for freight units 21.7% and for private vehicles 22%.

Superfast Ferries is part of Attica Holdings S.A. (Attica Group), whose consolidated financial results for 2005 show a turnover of 385.1 million euros, up from 371.3 million euro in 2004. The group’s after tax profit amounted to 28.1 million euros, 21.1% less than last year.

“It should be noted that the very high cost of fuel affected the fleet’s operating expenses in 2005 by an amount in excess of 20 million euros,” the company said. It added that 2004 results were also boosted by 8.06 million in extraordinary gains from the sale of five vessels.

Attica Group operates eight Superfast Ferries, two RoRo vessels and eight Blue Star ferries. Four Superfast Ferries operate on routes between Germany-Finland and Scotland-Belgium. The company’s quality service was recognized on several occasions last year. Designated as an exceptional example in Scotland’s tourism industry, VisitScotland awarded the company the highest 4-star grading. The company also was voted as Best Ferry Operator by the Scottish Passenger Agents Association, and by the readers of the Guardian and Observer newspapers, and the Guardian Unlimited online service.