Eurotunnel price pledge amid recovery plan

Eurotunnel today pledged to overhaul prices and deliver annual cost savings worth €40m as it looked to secure its financial future.

The strategy was announced 90 days into the reign of the company’s all-French management team – installed after rebel shareholders ousted the previous board in April.

The company added that it was “actively working” on a refinancing plan as it attempts to tackle a €9.6bn debt mountain.

Chief executive Jean-Louis Raymond said: “Eurotunnel’s recovery is becoming possible. We have identified the conditions that need to be met, but time is short.”

He pledged to provide further details to shareholders and creditors in October.

However, the company said today that it would halt the decline in turnover from its shuttle services by reorganising its pricing policy – “whether for the strategic freight sector, cars or coaches”.

It added that two plans had already been launched to deliver the cost savings of €40m a year. They should start to bear fruit within a year, the company forecast.

Eurotunnel, which also said the recruitment process for British non-executive directors was ongoing, sought a restructuring of the company’s debt after it was elected at April’s stormy annual meeting in Paris.