Slovenia's Luka Koper expects net sales to rise 4% in 2024

Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), however, are expected to decline by 17%, due to higher operating costs, which will continue to be affected by inflation, Luka Koper said in its audited annual report for 2023 on Thursday.

The port operator expects container transshipment to grow by 3% to 1.093 million TEUs in 2024, while transshipment of cars is expected to decline by 2% to 895,000 units, bringing the total cargo traffic to 22.6 million tonnes, up 1% on 2023.

Luka Koper intends to focus its 2024 investment on increasing the capacity of the container terminal, as well as building open-air storage areas for car handling, a new passenger terminal, rooftop photovoltaic facilities, and a fire station, it noted.

In 2024, the port operator plans to allocate 21 million euro to sustainable development and social responsibility projects, which represents 32% of all planned investments.

Luka Koper booked a consolidated net profit of 56.4 million euro in 2023, down from 74.2 million euro in the previous year, while maritime throughput came in at 22.3 million tonnes, down 4% as compared to 2022, with container throughput increasing 5% to 1.066 million TEUs.

($ = 0.93883 euro)