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Irish Continental Group

ICGC.L
63
Marine Shipping · Industrials
Exchange
London Stock Exchange
Winston Score
63
Winston is curious
A decent business — some strong pillars, some weaker.
Data as of Aug 23, 2026 · filings through Dec 31, 2025
How the score breaks down
Quality
Good
Growth
Strong
Cash Flow
Strong
Stability
Strong
Valuation
Good

Winston Score History

The full picture

Irish Continental Group (ICG) runs ferry services and freight shipping between Ireland, the United Kingdom, and continental Europe. Its main brands are Irish Ferries, which carries passengers and their cars across the Irish Sea and to France, and a container and trailer freight division that moves goods for businesses. The company is one of the largest ferry operators on routes connecting Ireland to Britain and France.

ICG makes money by selling passenger tickets, cabin and onboard services, and by charging freight customers to ship containers and trailers on its vessels. It operates primarily across the North Atlantic approaches — the Irish Sea and English Channel — and generates roughly €400–500 million in annual revenue. Its moat comes from owning the physical ships and holding established route licenses, which are hard for new competitors to replicate quickly. The key risk the business faces is exposure to changes in trade volumes between Ireland and the UK, which remain sensitive to Brexit-related trade policy and broader economic slowdowns in both markets.

Growth Profile

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+12.1% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Steady revenue growth

EPS Growth

+35.7% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Strong earnings growth

Insider Activity

26.9%ownership

Flat

Insider ownership roughly steady over the past year

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

£37M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↑ Burn rate improving

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Growth + cash flow

Irish Continental Group is a rare growth stock that's already generating positive cash flow while growing at 12%. The Winston Score doesn't fully credit this transition from "burner" to "earner."

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

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Quality

Profit per sale
Gross Margin
17.1%
Thin — 17.1% gross margin
Profit after running costs
Operating Margin
17.1%
Healthy — 17.1% operating margin
Return on the money invested
ROCE
18.9%
Strong — 18.9% return on capital

ROIC between 15% and 25%. Every dollar invested in the business earns 15 to 25 cents back per year.

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Growth

Sales growth
Sales YoY
+10.4%
Steady sales growth (+10.4% YoY)
Profit growth
EPS YoY
+38.1%
Earnings growing fast (+38.1% YoY)

Earnings growing 25%+ a year. The compounder zone.

How steady the profit is
EPS Consistency
6/8 quarters
Earnings grew in most of the last 8 quarters

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Cash Flow

Profit that turns into cash
Cash Conversion
200%
Turns 200% of profit into real cash
Spare cash per sale
FCF Margin
7.2%
Modest free cash flow (7.2%)

FCF margin between 0% and 10%. Some cash from sales, but not a lot.

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Stability

What it owes vs what it owns
Debt / Equity
0.60
Moderate — manageable debt (0.60)
Covers its interest
Interest Cover
8.39x
Comfortably covers interest (8.4x)

Interest coverage above 8. Profits cover interest many times over.

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Valuation

Price vs profit
P/E Ratio (TTM)
14.3x
no trend
Attractive valuation — P/E 14.3

P/E in the normal range. Price is roughly $15 for every $1 of yearly profit.

Cheaper or dearer next year
P/E vs Forward
N/A
not available
Data not available

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Dividends

Not applicable for this business.
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