Finland's Finnlines, which transports passengers and cargo in the North Sea and the Baltic, continued its growth in the third quarter, a period described by the carrier as the best ever.

And the RoRo carrier is allegedly on track to set a new record for full-year earnings, says CEO and President Emanuele Grimaldi in a financial update.

The carrier informs that the profit increased by EUR 2.2 million to EUR 32.5 million in the quarter, while the first nine months of the year grew 11.5 percent compared to the same period last year.

For the first three quarters, earnings thus came to EUR 67.9 million against EUR 60.9 million after the third quarter 2016, and Finnlines is now only EUR 200,000 short of matching the full-year result 2016.

Revenue increased EUR 43.4 million to EUR 404.5 million for the quarter.

"While Finland is celebrating the centenary of its independence and Finnlines is celebrating its 70th anniversary, we are stronger than ever. This will be our third record breaking year thanks to the right strategic, operational and financial decisions taken. We continue to optimize our operations and seek for growth in order to strengthen our competitive position," says Grimaldi in the update.

Finnlines has in recent years invested in green technology. While the carrier has completed an investment of EUR 100 million aimed at reducing sulfur emissions, Finnlines has also spent EUR 70 million on increasing vessel length on four of the carrier's ships, with an option to modify another two ships.

Finnlines, owned by Grimaldi Group, finished 2016 with a profit of EUR 68.1 million, up from EUR 56.8 million in 2015.

English Edit: Daniel Logan Berg-Munch

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