Belfast Harbour has reported record pretax profits of £29.9 million (€37.8 million) for 2015 - up 3.5 per cent year on year.
Turnover at the Harbour, which is one of the UK’s Trust Port which means it is an independent statutory body, also rose by exactly 3.4 per cent to £54.3 million.
Dr David Dobbin, Belfast Harbour's chairman, said 2015 was the second busiest year on record for imports and exports through the harbour with a total of 23 million tonnes of cargo being handled by the port last year.
The harbour currently handles 70 per cent of Northern Ireland’s seaborne trade and about one fifth of that of Ireland as a whole.
Dr Dobbin said: “All of our earnings are re-invested in projects such as improved container and quayside handling facilities, dockside cranes or the award-winning City Quays Grade A office development.
Film studios
Work is also well underway on our new film studios and we hope to announce a contractor and brand operator for a new hotel at City Quays within the coming weeks.
“These investments are resulting in new jobs and improved regional competitiveness. Belfast Harbour is committed to helping the Northern Ireland economy grow and prosper.”
The latest financial results also contain details of a number of infrastructure projects completed in the last financial year totalling £18 million and highlight several new projects worth in the region of £100 million which are underway or due to begin within the next six months.
According to Dr Dobbin, the landscape of the harbour is being transformed as new marine and real estate developments projects get underway.
“We are laying the foundations for how Belfast Harbour will look and feel for the 21st Century.
“Trade in the first quarter of 2016 has already shown encouraging signs of growth, building upon the success of our customers and the outward looking ethos of Northern Ireland’s private sector. Our expectation is that such growth will enable the Harbour to continue to support and self-fund its ambitious investment programme, creating much needed quality jobs.”
