TravelMole
Business

Eurostar blames strong pound and Paris attacks for profit fall

Tuesday, 15 March 20163 min read

A challenging end to 2015 meant zero growth in passenger numbers for Eurostar last year and a fall in profit.

The rail operator carried 10.4 million passengers in 2015, the same as the previous year.

It said passenger numbers dropped sharply after the Paris terror attacks in November.

Revenues were also impacted by the strength of sterling. At constant exchange rates, sales revenues for 2015 were flat year-on-year whereas at actual rates sales revenues dropped by 5% to £821 million from £867 million in 2014.

Underlying operating profit for the year also fell, from £55 million in 2014 to £34 million.

But chief executive Nicolas Petrovic said trading has started to pick up over the first two months of 2016 and forward bookings for the summer are looking positive.

"After a challenging end to 2015, trading is picking up and the outlook for the summer is positive. With our new state-of-the-art trains and highly competitive fares to a range of destinations, we expect this trend to gather momentum over the coming months," he said.