Eurotunnel takes stock of "difficult year"

?Eurotunnel has announced a 6% fall in operating revenue in 2001, blaming the drop on the absence of telecommunications cable sales. Total revenue stood at £548m ($794.2m) compared with £579m ($839.1m) in 2000. Turnover from the company?s shuttle services fell by 2% to £310m ($449.3m), with car traffic decreasing by 9% compared with a market fall of 6%.
Eurotunnel ceo Richard Shirrefs said the spread of foot-and-mouth disease in the UK, in addition to the incursion of asylum seekers at the Coquelles terminal on the French mainland, had had an adverse effect on results. But he insisted: "We have made significant progress in three key areas over the last few months by limiting the impact of asylum seekers on our service quality, increasing freight tariffs to a more realistic level, and achieving growth in our core passenger markets. Eurotunnel?s key target markets continue to grow despite the current economic uncertainty."
According to analyst Generation, Eurotunnel?s duty- and tax-free sales stood at $106.9m in 2000, compared with $165m in 1999.