Eurotunnel wants more time for debt mountain talks

Eurotunnel said today it had requested further time for talks with its creditors over a debt mountain that could cripple it by next year.

The Channel Tunnel operator said it wanted to extend the waiver on its debt to July 12, with a review planned for the middle of next month.

It repeated previous warnings that without a financial restructuring it would not be able to guarantee the future of the group beyond 2007 – the point at which it is due to start paying back a significant portion of the debt.

Last year, the Anglo-French firm was granted a waiver which allowed it to talk to a committee representing a majority of its creditors about restructuring the debt, which is thought to be in the region of €9.6bn.

Eurotunnel said the latest waiver period would allow for all creditors to come together for the first time to reach a “consensual financial restructuring plan”.

The company added that changes at an operational level had resulted in revenues growth of 1% to €780m in 2005. It also achieved the first improvement in revenues from its shuttle services since 2002 – up 4% to €425m.

The figures were issued on a provisional basis as uncertainty over the company’s debt mountain forced Eurotunnel to delay its annual figures.