NAPLES - Chairman and Managing Director of the Grimaldi Group, Emanuele Grimaldi announced, in connection with the publication of Finnline’s bi-annual financial statements of January-June 2017, with satisfaction, that: "The first trimester of 2017 was followed by a second trimester which was just as strong. The January-June 2017 result improved by about 16 per cent, up to 35.4 (30.5) million euros, representing the best result of the first semester in Finnlines' history. The second trimester result was 24.2 million euros (22.2 million), absolutely the best second trimester quarter. Import and export volumes in Finland are constantly growing month after month, which is a well-received sign of a long-awaited economic recovery.”

 Grimaldi emphasized that Finnlines has invested heavily in the last decade to become a more eco-friendly and more environmentally friendly navigation company: the 100 million euro environmental technology investment programme has been successfully completed with technologies designed to reduce ship emissions and fuel consumption. The new capex programme, an investment programme for energy efficiency, is well-designed for sustainable navigation. The investment programme, which includes Finnlines' ‘ro-ro Breeze’ series ships, will further improve the fleet by making it more secure, reliable and environmentally sustainable, providing greater capacity and greater flexibility. In addition, the capacity increase of 30 per cent per ship will considerably reduce the energy consumption per unit delivered. As well as ship improvements, Grimaldi emphasized how Finnlines has invested in port operations, for example by improving IT software and hardware, by renovating port equipment, simplifying corporate structure, and expanding activities with new trades.

 Grimaldi added that "the 70th anniversary of Finnlines falls in the same year that Finland celebrates the centenary of its independence. Finnlines is an iconic brand throughout the Baltic, and its history and that of its native country are intimately interwoven. To ensure that Finnlines, as a pillar of the Finnish economy and its maritime activities, can better serve its customers and meet the growing demand for top quality loading services, we continue to invest. After a 1 billion euros capex programme, an investment of 100 million euros for environmental technology and now the investment programme for energy efficiency and emission reductions of 70 million euros, Finnlines is getting stronger and stronger. We are convinced that our investments, both completed and ongoing, will bring a continuous strengthening of our competitiveness and that this positive growth will continue in the second half of the year."

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