Piraeus Port Sees Strong Revenues from Cruise, Ferry Travel in 2023

Photo source: Piraeus Port Authority

Total revenues for listed Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) SA in 2023 increased by 12.9 percent to 219.8 million euros over 2022, marking the best performances in the company’s history in terms of revenues and profitability, it said in its financial results.

Pre-tax profits also increased by 28.8 percent to 96.2 million euros up from 74.7 million euros in 2022 while profits after taxes came to 66.8 euros up by 26.3 percent over fiscal year 2022.

The company’s proposed dividend per share increased by 29 percent to 1.34 euros up from 1.04 euros a year earlier.

Cruise travel

Photo source: Piraeus Port Authority

Driving growth were the cruise sector which saw passenger traffic rise by 68.6 percent in 2023 to 1,484,788 over 880,416 in 2022 with a 12.4 percent rise in the number of cruise ship calls to 761 from 677 the previous year.

Homeport passengers surged by 110.4 percent to 797,234 up from 378,899. Overall in 2023, 571 ships homeported.

In 2023, Piraeus Port welcomed some 1.5 million cruise passengers compared to 880,000 in 2022.

“Strategic choices led to this growth, showcasing the company’s alignment with the pursued objectives enabling the port of Piraeus to significantly bolster the country’s position by attracting high-profile tourist flows (homeport),” the PPA said.

Coastal shipping

The coastal shipping sector also drove growth marking a 7.9 percent rise in total passenger traffic to 16,158,776 passengers up from 14,976,394 in 2022 and a 3.8 percent in car traffic to 2,878,422 compared to 2,772,525 a year earlier.

Commenting on the results, PPA SA Chairman Yu Zenggang said that future investments had been planned to maintain Piraeus’ top position among the leading ports in the Mediterranean and Europe, and went on to attribute the positive 2023 figures to employees and to “the faithful execution of the company’s plan and strategy”.

The PPA manages and operates Greece’s largest port in Piraeus and one of the largest integrated ports in Europe. Activities include cruise, coastal (ferry/passenger), container, and car terminal services, as well as cargo, ship repair, logistics, and free zone services. Cosco Shipping is the main shareholder of PPA SA with a 67 percent stake.