Danish ro-ro group DFDS has posted another rise in quarterly profit ahead of taking over Turkish owner U.N. Ro-Ro next month.
The company said net earnings to 31 March were DKK 157m ($25m), up from DKK 150m a year ago.
Revenue grew to DKK 3.48bn against DKK 3.22bn in 2017.
Passenger volumes rose 14%, boosted by Easter, while freight ferry volumes were up 3%.
Last month, the company agreed to acquire U.N. Ro-Ro for EUR 950m ($1.13bn) as it looked to expand its ferry routes across the Mediterranean.
"Both growth and earnings were ahead of expectations in Q1 and our full-year growth expectation is now raised to 4% and to 10% including U.N. Ro-Ro," said CEO Niels Smedegaard.
"European growth is robust and continues to support our ferry routes and logistics activities. Our continuous improvement projects are on track and will also contribute to earnings this year."
DFDS experienced higher profit from both ferry routes and logistics activities.
Looking ahead, it said it expects to complete the U.N. Ro-Ro deal in June.
Revenue excluding this addition is expected to increase by around 4% in 2018, up from 2% previously, due to higher activity.
With U.N. Ro-Ro included in the picture, revenue is forecast to grow 10%.
The EBITDA range is between DKK 2.65bn and DKK 2.85bn for 2018, with U.N. Ro-Ro boosting this to between DKK 3bn and DKK 3.2bn.
