BELFAST HARBOUR weathered stormy economic conditions last year to increase revenues by £400,000 to £33.1 million, according to figures in its latest annual report.

Belfast Harbour, which operates Belfast Port and controls a considerable land estate, maintained pre-tax profits at £19 million despite a 4 per cent drop in trade tonnage through the port. Belfast Port handles an estimated 60 per cent of Northern Ireland’s seaborne trade.

Len O’Hagan, Belfast Harbour’s chairman, said the port outperformed other Irish ports such as Dublin and Cork last year, and increased its market share of the Irish Sea roll-on roll-off (RoRo) sector by 20 per cent.

Mr O’Hagan described 2009 as a “highly successful year for Belfast Harbour in spite of the difficult economic climate”.

He said the port’s activities had been affected by the continuing fall in imports of construction materials. A decline in local consumer spending and manufacturing output had also affected RoRo and container traffic levels.

Mr O’Hagan said while economic uncertainty had slowed the pace of investment by Belfast Harbour it had remained committed to major capital investment projects which totalled £24 million last year.

Belfast Harbour’s bottom-line profits for 2009 have been heavily affected by an exceptional deduction relating to a £13.9 million contribution it made to the £97 million Titanic Signature Building in Titanic Quarter.

The Harbour estate comprises 1,950 acres of land which includes the Titanic Quarter in east Belfast, George Best City Airport, Bombardier and the Odyssey. It is developing the Titanic Quarter through a public/private partnership with Titanic Quarter Ltd, a sister company of Dublin-based Harcourt Developments.

Belfast Harbour is run by a board of commissioners who are appointed by the North’s Department for Regional Development.

The port is a trust port and must earn a “commercially acceptable rate or return on its assets”.

In its annual report, Belfast Harbour states that all post-tax profits are reinvested in the development of port and estate facilities.