Eutelsat Com Regulatory News (ETL)

17 Jan 2007 11:56

Eurotunnel PLC/Eurotunnel S.A.17 January 2007 17 January 2007 Immediate release Eurotunnel Traffic and Revenue in 2006 • Revenue increased by 5% to £568 million • Shuttle services revenue, Eurotunnel's core business, increased by 7% • Almost 1.3 million trucks and more than 2 million passenger vehicles transported on Eurotunnel Shuttles In 2006 Eurotunnel has had an excellent year, recording revenues of £568million, an increase of 5%, compared to the previous year at constant exchangerates. This growth is principally due to the results from Eurotunnel's Passengerand Truck Shuttle activities, the core business, which, for the second year in arow, has increased significantly: +7%, to £318 million. The increase in Eurotunnel revenues comes at a time when the company no longerseeks to increase its volumes as a priority: the number of cars and truckstransported is now stable (-1%), by comparison to the preceding year. Jacques Gounon, Eurotunnel Chairman and Chief Executive said: "Eurotunnel has seen a significant growth in revenue from the now maturecross-Channel market, for the second year in a row. These excellent results areahead of the business plan which has served as the foundation for the company'sfinancial restructuring and are an encouraging indicator for the success of thesafeguard plan". Eurotunnel revenue £ million 2006 2005 % 2005 Un-audited Restated* Change ReportedShuttle services 318 296 7% 295Railways 240 235 2% 235Transport activities 558 531 5% 530Non-transport activities 10 11 -12% 11Revenue 568 542 5%** 541 \* The figures for the year 2005 have been recalculated at an exchange rate of £1= €1.462 to allow a direct comparison with 2006. **Excluding the effect of payments under the Minimum Usage Charge (MUC), the proforma increase in total revenues would have been 6%. Total revenue for Eurotunnel, which includes both transport and non-transportactivities, has reached £568 million in 2006. At constant exchange rates, thisequates to an increase of 5% when compared to the previous year. (Eurotunnelrevenue was in decline between 2002 and 2004). It rose by 1% between 2004 and2005. The Shuttle services which link Folkestone (UK) to Coquelles (France), carryingtrucks or passenger vehicles are the main driver for this growth: their revenueshave grown by 7% (to £318 million). - The Passenger Shuttle service has played a substantial role in thisperformance in 2006: the company's new pricing approach has shown itself to beperfectly adapted to the market. It allows us to attract and develop customerloyalty in the most profitable segments. - The transport of trucks remains Eurotunnel's spearhead and continuesto generate the majority of Shuttle services revenue. Revenues are growing inphase with activities and have benefited appreciably from the end of the use ofintermediaries in the sale of this service. Revenues from the Railways are slightly higher (+2%) at £240 million. Theyinclude payments due under the Minimum Usage Charge (MUC), £65 million for 11months of 2006. The ending of this arrangement on 30 November 2006, has deprivedEurotunnel £6 million of revenue compared with 2005. Pro forma, over 12 months,Eurotunnel's total revenue would have increased by 6%. Non-transport revenue remains marginal. Channel Tunnel Traffic The quality of services offered by Eurotunnel, the speed, ease and reliabilityof its transport system, has led several million customers to chooseEurotunnel's Shuttle Services to cross the Channel in 2006. Eurotunnel Shuttles 1,296,269 trucks, representing more than 17 million tonnes of goods, werecarried on Eurotunnel Truck Shuttles in 2006 - volumes less than 1% below thosefor 2005 which was Eurotunnel's record year, largely due to the exceptionaltransfer of traffic from the port of Calais during the first half of 2005.Viewed against 2004, which offers a comparable reference point, truck traffichas increased by more than 15,000 units. In a market which has been in long term decline, the Passenger Shuttle serviceattracted 2,021,543 cars (-1%) and 67,201 coaches (-13%) equal, to more than 7.5million people. Traffic volumes 2006 2005 % ChangeTruck Shuttles 1,296,269 trucks 1,308,786 trucks -1%Passenger Shuttles 2,021,543 cars* 2,047,166 cars* -1% 67,201 coaches 77,267 coaches -13% *Including motorcycles, vehicles with trailers, caravans and camper vans. Railway traffic 7,858,337 passengers travelled through the Channel Tunnel on Eurostar* in 2006,constituting an increase of 5% by comparison to 2005. The growth in traffic,slowed by the terrorist attacks in London in July 2005, has taken off again in2006. Eurotunnel, due to the mode of calculation of tolls, does not benefit fromthis increase in traffic. However, as a result of its decision to grant Eurostarpriority over its own Shuttles for passage through the Tunnel, Eurotunnel hascontributed to the improvement in Eurostar punctuality, thus helping itsprincipal customer to achieve its commercial strategy. The railway companies' freight trains carried 1,569,429 tonnes of goods in 2006,1% less than in 2005. This traffic remains well below the original forecasts andthe capacity of the Channel Tunnel. Eurotunnel is examining, with the railwayfreight operators SNCF and EWS, the conditions which would enable thiscontinuing decline to be reversed. Railway volumes 2006 2005 % ChangeEurostar 7,858,337 7,454,497 +5% passengers* passengers* Freight trains 1,569,429 tonnes 1,587,790 tonnes -1%(EWS/SNCF) \* The number of Eurostar passengers figuring in this table is that of passengerspassing through the Tunnel and therefore excludes those who use Eurostar fortravel between Paris-Calais and Brussels-Lille. 004/2006 For media enquiries contact The Press Office on + 44 (0) 1303 284491.Email: press@eurotunnel.com For investor enquiries contact Michael Schuller on + 44 (0) 1303 288 749.Email: michael.schuller@eurotunnel.com www.eurotunnel.com Eurotunnel manages the infrastructure of the Channel Tunnel and operatesaccompanied truck shuttle and passenger shuttle (car and coach) services betweenFolkestone, UK and Calais, France. Eurotunnel also earns toll revenue fromtrain operators (Eurostar for rail passengers, and EWS and SNCF for railfreight) which use the Tunnel. Eurotunnel is quoted in London, Paris andBrussels. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange