Mixed fortunes for ferry companies
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EUROPEAN FERRIES' operating profit climbed last year from 1983's £39.5m to £4 5m, despite a fall in turnover from £323m to £309m. But it is scared of subsidised competition from a fixed Channel link.
Townsend Thoresen, its shipping division, raised its turnover by four per cent to £236.4m, with profit on its ordinary activities up from £16.6m to £17.5m.
Competition prevented the company from making the increases in freight rates it wished to, following a "significant" rise in the amount of traffic carried. But it still regards the figures as satisfactory.
Group chairman Kenneth Siddle said in his annual report that the company will keep "a careful eye" on the evolution of Sealink UK in its new private hands, and Townsend Thoresen will continue to strive to remain market leader.
He is especially critical of the plans for a fixed Channel link, given his company's belief that the existing ferry infrastructure is capable of providing services well into the next century.
"Our biggest fear is that sentiment will cause the project to happen and the sheer size. of the problem created could force rescue subsidies of a magnitude that would represent very unfair competition to existing operators.
"We must, and will fight this folly," Mr Siddlc • asserted.
• Sealink has been restructured to maximise its profit earning potential, says Sea Containers, which bought it for £66 million in July, 1984.
This has meant withdrawal from one route, says the annual report, entering into a pooling arrangement with another, merging a subsidiary with another operator on a third, redeploying vessels and seeking reductions in costs.
Sealink made a net profit of £6.4m ($9.7m) in 1983; last year, owing to strikes, it lost money.