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Eurotunnel is optimistic as first-half freight figures fall
Page 14
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As talKs continue about restructuring Eurotunners debts, a dip in freight volumes couldn't have come at a worse time. Guy Sheppard reports.
TROUBLED CHANNELTunnel operator Eurotunnel suffered sharp falls in freight activity during the first half of this year following its decision not to chase traffic volumes by offering big discounts.
The number of units on its truck shuttle service was just under 650,000, down 8% on the same period last year. Tonnage on its through freight trains fe117% over the same period and 19% compared with the first half of 2004.
However, Eurotunnel chairman and chief executive Jacques Gounon described the results as very good because profits rose 12% to fl 6.1m once debt problems were removed from the accounts.
"This marked improvement is the tangible result of the considerable efforts made by staff and shows the potential Eurotunnel has," he adds. But Gounon warns that a failure to reach a deal with creditors on f.6.2bn of debt could jeopardise continued improvements in the company's performance.
Eurotunnel spokesman John Keefe says that while the strategy started in January 2(105, last year's freight figures were artificially boosted by problems at the Port of Calais. This explains the relative drop in freight activity this year. "We now have annual contracts with our big customers where they predict the volumes they'll need," Keefe concludes.-lt means we run fewer trains through the day but [those trains] run fuller,