Even though sa国际传媒 Ferries鈥� vehicle and passenger numbers climbed in the first quarter of this fiscal year, they still lagged behind pre-COVID days.
sa国际传媒 Ferries鈥� revenues, earnings and cash from its operations all fell behind what was seen pre-pandemic.
When sa国际传媒 Ferries released its results for April, May and June of this year, it showed that vehicle numbers rose by 37 per cent and passengers increased by 40 per cent compared with the same months in 2020.
But increases were expected because pandemic restrictions have eased since spring of last year, but COVID cases got in the way of anticipated stronger performance.
Mark Collins, sa国际传媒 Ferries鈥� president and chief executive, said in a statement on Thursday: 鈥淭raffic was stronger in this quarter than the same period last year but still well below expectations given the impacts of the third wave of COVID-19.
鈥淭hroughout the period, sa国际传媒 Ferries continued to provide lifeline service to coastal communities and we are pleased to see positive momentum with the return of summer leisure travel.鈥�
As well, continuing travel restrictions limited vehicle and passenger traffic growth, keeping them from fully recovering from last year鈥檚 levels.
Tourism numbers have been down drastically since the pandemic began and operators in the sector continue to suffer. sa国际传媒 opened its border on Aug. 9 to U.S. citizens and permanent residents, currently living in the U.S., who have been fully vaccinated. The border is expected to open to international travellers on Sept. 7.
Cruise ships will be allowed to dock in the province as of this winter, after being absent from sa国际传媒 ports for two years.
For the three months ending June 30, revenues rose $91.8 million compared with the previous fiscal year, largely thanks to the federal-provincial safe-restart funding program, as well as higher traffic and increases in net retail sales.
At the end of last year, sa国际传媒 Ferries received $308 million in safe-restart funds. Of that, $60 million was put towards sa国际传媒 Ferries鈥� operating losses.
Without that money, revenues for the first quarter would have been $169.2 million and net losses would have been $55.3 million, the company said.
In July and into August, the picture brightened as travellers flocked to ferries, especially on long weekends when reservations were recommended for popular routes.
Capital expenditures in this quarter totalled $38.7 million and included new vessels, major overhauls and inspections, marine ramp structure upgrades, hardware upgrades and various other projects.
Four new battery-electric hybrid Island Class vessels and one more liquefied natural gas-fuelled Salish Class vessel have jointed the fleet. It is vital for sa国际传媒 Ferries to invest in capital projects to ensure the ferry system is safe and reliable, the company said.
