The port of Thessaloniki once again records an increase in operations this year, despite the war crisis in Gaza and the problems in the Red Sea, which caused a decrease in cargo in other ports across the region, following the rising rates in 2023.
OLTH, in fact, according to its management, started this year with a very good start, while this year OLTH SA’s dry ports are back in operation. in the Balkans.
As announced at the company’s ordinary annual general meeting of shareholders in mid-May, rail services to and from Nis (Serbia) and Skopje have now resumed, while the company’s CEO, Arie Koppelaar, has set out a timetable for the reoperation of the link OLTH railway with the dry port it owns in Sofia within eight weeks.
Investments 71.3 million
Since the privatization of THA, in 2018, until today, investments of 71.3 million euros have been made in equipment, infrastructure, services provided and specialization of the Organization’s human resources, with which, as highlighted by the Executive President of D in “ N “.S. of OLTH SA, Thanos Liagos, “we managed to strengthen the trust of our partners, creating new milestones for the Port of Thessaloniki. Case in point, the largest container movement ever recorded at the port (520,048 TEUs).
Furthermore, in 2023 we strengthened our extroversion with the dynamic participation of OLTH SA. in prestigious national and international exhibitions and with initiatives to hold events in Thessaloniki, such as the 7th “Posidonia Maritime Tourism Forum” and the 1st “Southeast Europe Connectivity Forum”.
With the vision of operating more than one port and with an international orientation, we are continually strengthening the role of the Port of Thessaloniki in the global port industry, as a leading provider of multi-gateway combined transport networks and supply chain solutions for the Balkans and the entire region of Southeast, Central and Eastern Europe”.
The clear “key” to the “take-off” of the port of Thessaloniki and its evolution into a main line port is none other than the major investment in the expansion and deepening of the 6th pier.
The port administration, as Mr. Liagos underlines, is bidding for the issuance of the Presidential Decree on the updated master plan and the ΟΛΤΟΣ ΣΠΠΕ as soon as possible, so that the project can start, for which the METKA Consortium was selected as the contractor -TEKAL SA in the last relevant competition.
A realistic schedule for the issuance of the aforementioned PD and the start of works on the 6th pier is considered to be in the 4th quarter of the year, with completion expected within 36 months from the start. Several scenarios are being considered for financing the project, the most likely being a combination of equity capital with bank loans, given that the SA is a company with zero debt.
Size increase in 2023
This year’s ordinary general meeting of OLTH SA shareholders approved the management’s proposal to distribute a gross dividend of 1.30 euros per share, that is, a net dividend of 1.235 euros per share, for the year 2023. It should be noted that the group’s total consolidated result for the year 2023 increased to 85.9 million. 85.3 million in 2022.
In the container terminal there was a significant increase of more than 12% (to 59.8 million), also in the areas of space exploration and passenger traffic (cruises – cabotage) there were significant increases of 18.2% and 31 .3% respectively (to 3.9 million and 0.9 million respectively), while the contractual cargo terminal recorded a decrease in revenue of 21.5% (to 20.2 million) and the revenue of the subsidiary in Sofia stood at insignificant levels.
Regarding the group’s performance, there was a net increase in profitability at all levels: Gross Profit increased by 1.9% to 37.6 million, Operating Profit (EBITDA) increased by 3.4% to 34.1 million and Net Profit after tax increased by 8.9% to 20.3 million euros.
The capital expenditure programme for the whole of 2023 exceeded 9.2 million and is mainly related to the new Cruise Terminal “Alexander the Great”, level restoration, repair and upgrade of platforms, upgrades of power substations, purchase of loading and unloading equipment and ISPS safety systems. Smart Ports In his capacity and as President of ELIME (Hellenic Ports Association), Mr. Liagos also places special emphasis on the development of the city’s ports into Smart Ports and attracting important international industry events to Greece.
In this sense, at the beginning of May 2025, the major annual European conference of ESPO (European Seaports Organisation) will be held for the first time in Thessaloniki, with multiple benefits expected for the city and its port.