VANCOUVER -- BC Ferries recorded net earnings of $98.4 million in its latest quarter -- thanks to $154.8 million in federal-provincial Safe Restart funding.

The ferry corporation says without the funding, it would have seen a loss of $56.4 million for the three months ending December 31st.

It says the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on its operations.

Passenger traffic was down nearly 40 per cent and the number of vehicles carried was 22.3 per cent lower than in the same period a year earlier.

(The Canadian Press)