Eurotunnel cuts half-year losses

Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel saw first half losses cut by 18% to £87 million.

The troubled company, which is planning a financial restructuring, saw shuttle service revenue rise 6% to £146 million in the first six months of the year.

Eurotunnel carried 951,561 cars in the period, a rise of just one per cent on the first half of 2004.

The company admitted: “The progression recorded in the quarter of 2005 did not continue into the second quarter; first quarter traffic benefited from the operational difficulties at the Port of Calais, and the fact that Easter fell in the first quarter of 2005.”

The number of coaches carried rose by 34% year-on-year to 39,831, while passengers carried by Eurostar through the Channel Tunnel rose by 8% in the first half of the year.

Eurotunnel chairman Jacques Gounon said a progess report on the financial restructuring was expected to be provided next month after a period of confidential negotiations.

He said: “Eurotunnel has accelerated improvements in its operational performance. Increased revenue in our core shuttle business has been achieved within the framework of a new marketing strategy based on our key benefits: frequency, speed and reliability.

“We expect to consolidate the three per cent reduction in operating costs in the second half. This will be achieved by more closely aligning capacity with demand, and by further reductions in staff costs as the first voluntary redundancies take effect.”

Report by Phil Davies