Summer hols give a lift to Eurotunnel
EUROTUNNEL, the operator of the Channel Tunnel, said yesterday a bumper summer helped boost revenues for the year so far by 10 per cent.
The Paris-based firm said core revenue for the three months to the end of September grew eight per cent compared to last year to €181.3m (£159m). This rose to €212.1m when sales from Eurotunnel’s recent rail freight acquisitions were included, the firm said in an update.
The company said truck shuttle traffic rose 50 per cent in the third quarter of the year, as commercial transport began to recover. Sales of Eurostar tickets rose three per cent to 2.66m in the quarter, despite the volume of passenger trains falling by 23 per cent compared to last year.
“The advantages the tunnel offers made the difference in a market which remained challenging and despite intense competition,” said Eurotunnel boss Jacques Gounon.
Eurotunnel made a joint bid with Goldman Sachs and M&G earlier this year for High Speed 1, the railway development between London and Folkestone being sold off by the government and valued at £2bn.
Gounon said the consortium was working hard but wanted to “pay the right price for the asset”. “We believe we can generate synergies and can bring additional traffic” to the high speed line, he added.