Company briefs - 2011-09-08

Latvijas balzams, the largest producer of alcoholic beverages in the Baltic States, achieved 29.4 million lats (42 million euros) in unaudited turnover in the first six months of 2011, which is 17 percent less than over the same period last year, reports LETA. The company’s unaudited profit stood at 1.1 million lats, a 10 percent decrease on the first half of 2010. Sales on the local market fell 10 percent; on export markets seven percent; in the European Union 13 percent; in Estonia 14 percent; in Lithuania eight percent. The report states that Latvijas Balzams turnover shrank due to an increase in the share of bootleg alcohol, an increase in excise duties and reduction of economic activity in the company’s main markets.

Estonia’s largest passenger shipping company, Tallink Grupp, transported 9,068,526 passengers in the first 12 months of its 2010/2011 financial year, which is almost an 8 percent increase compared to the 12 months of the 2009/2010. The number of passenger vehicles increased by 10 percent to 1,059,814, and trucks and trailers increased by 11 percent to 287,865 units in the same comparison. In the fourth quarter of the 2010/2011 financial year (June-August) Tallink Grupp transported 2,977,564 passengers, which is nearly a 5 percent increase compared to the previous year. The number of passenger vehicles increased by over 1 percent to 378,953, and the number of trucks and trailers increased by over 4 percent to 70,184 units in same comparison. Tallink Grupp operates six ship routes under the Tallink and Silja Line trademarks. The company owns 19 ships.