Irish Ferries owner Irish Continental Group (ICG) has reported a 9.6 percent revenue bump in 2014 - up to €290m.

Its pre-tax profits were €56.7m - up from €23.7m in 2013. Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) rose by 2.6 percent to €50.5 million.

ICG's ferry division grew by 14 percent - and its container & terminal division grew by 2.6 percent.

This expansion was bolstered by the addition of the new "Epsilon" vessel that was added to the Irish Ferries fleet.

It allowed the company to add 18 additional sailings every week between Dublin and Holyhead - and a weekly service between Dublin and France.

While energy costs were lower, the addition of the new vessel did increase the company's fuel costs. Operating costs (excluding depreciation) increased by 11.2 percent to €239.6m.

Chairman John B McGuckian welcomed the results: "The strong momentum, evident in Q4 of 2014 has continued into early 2015 giving us confidence that we can look forward in 2015, in the absence of unforeseen developments and assuming continued lower oil prices, to strong growth in revenue and earnings."