Eurotunnel activities growth prompts 7% third-quarter revenue increase

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, Oct. 16 - Eurotunnel SA said it saw strong growth in activities during the third quarter of 2006, with total revenue up by 7% from the same period of 2005 to £149.5 million, mainly as a result of good performance from shuttle services, according to a company news release.

Eurotunnel said this success underlines the impact of the company's now firmly established, new commercial and operational policy.

The company said the fire on a truck being carried on a freight shuttle on Aug. 21 did not affect the summer's performance, and operations were completely back to normal in just over 24 hours.

"I would like to thank our customers for their loyalty and our teams for their commitment," chairman and chief executive Jacques Gounon said in the release.

"They have enabled us to achieve remarkable performance levels this summer. These successes must nevertheless be viewed in a context which remains worrying: it is my responsibility to point out that Eurotunnel cannot continue much longer on this course, unless the very serious uncertainty which weighs on its future is removed.

"Only a vote in favor of the safeguard plan, which will be put to creditors before the end of the month, can remove this uncertainty."

Eurotunnel's revenue, which results from transport and non-transport activities, totaled £149.5 million for the third quarter of 2006. At constant exchange rates, the company said this represents a 7% increase over the same period in the previous year.

Revenue from core shuttle service activities grew by 12% to £87.3 million.

In addition, during this key period when passenger flows are high, Eurotunnel said the passenger service made a significant contribution to performance, and the company's new pricing policy is now adapted to market evolution, enabling it to attract and secure the loyalty of customers in the higher-yielding segments.

Furthermore, Eurotunnel said the third quarter saw a significant increase in continental traffic traveling to the United Kingdom.

Revenues from the railways increased slightly, up 2% to £59.8 million.

The revenues include payments under the minimum usage charge, which represented £15.4 million for the period.

Eurotunnel said revenue from non-transport activities remains marginal, with a decrease due to a non-recurring item recorded during the summer of 2005.

The number of trucks transported on Eurotunnel's freight shuttle service also increased by 4%, to 305,850.

Also, in a market that has been in decline for some time, Eurotunnel said its passenger shuttles carried 625,862 cars, for a 3% increase from 2005 and 17,295 coaches, for an 11% decrease.

Trains operated by the railways carried 371,910 tons of freight in the third quarter of 2006, 3% more than in 2005.

Despite this progression, Eurotunnel said traffic levels remain very much lower than the original forecasts and below the capacity of the Channel Tunnel.

Eurotunnel is the Paris-based operator of the Channel Tunnel.

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