Ferry rivals push P&O into the red
British ports and shipping group P&O today said continued turbulent conditions at its ferries business had sent half-year results into the red.
Although the London-based group was upbeat about the performance of its ports division, it posted pre-tax losses of £6.1m (€9.1m) against profits of £3.3m (€4.9m) last time.
This included further losses at the ferries arm, which P&O said was continuing to suffer from strong competition by rivals on cross-Channel routes.
With the number of tourist vehicles down 5%, P&O said turnover in the ferries business fell to £467.1m (€698.5m) from £505.7m (€756.1m) a year earlier. Operating losses widened to £25.1m (€37.5m) from £19.9m (€29.8m) last time.
The company is due to announce a wide-ranging review of the ferries business in September in a bid to revive its fortunes.
However, P&O said a good performance by the ports business helped it more than double operating profits on continuing operations to £113.1m (€169.1m).
The London-based group said: “Ferries is continuing to experience difficult market conditions, particularly for the tourist business.”
But it added that for the group as a whole, favourable trading in the first half was continuing and further improvement in its trading results was expected.
