2018 half-year results: strong growth in net profit
-
- Revenues: a further increase to €510 million (+4%)1
-
- EBITDA increased to €250 million (+5%)
-
- Net profit up strongly to €39 million (+15%)
- Eurotunnel:
-
- Revenues increased to €450 million (+4%)
-
- Increase in EBITDA of 4% to €247 million
- Europorte:
-
- Revenues increased to €60 million (+2%)
-
- Significant increase in EBITDA to €4 million
“For the first six months of 2018, Getlink has published growth in its revenues and EBITDA for the 9th consecutive first-half. We confirm our outlook for 2022 and our shareholder remuneration policy”.
Jacques Gounon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Getlink
Key events in the half year
- Group
-
- The arrival of Atlantia as an investor in the Group
-
- At its Investor Day on 19 June, the Group confirmed its financial objectives and dividend policy
-
- Payment of €160 million in dividends for the 2017 financial year
-
- Negative impact of the SNCF strikes on EBITDA estimated at €4.5 million
- Eurotunnel
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- Strength of Le Shuttle and Le Shuttle Freight
-
- Opening of the Folkestone Flexiplus lounge
-
- Increase in truck market share (+1.7 points) to 40.9% and relative stability in the car market at 57.6%
-
- Eurostar traffic growth up to 5.2 million passengers (+3%), aided by the opening of the London-Amsterdam service on 4 April 2018 and a record month in June with 1.016 million passengers (+6.6%), the second biggest month in their history, despite the impact of strikes during the second quarter
-
- Underlying growth of +20% for cross-Channel rail freight trains, which were strongly affected by the SNCF strikes
- Europorte
-
- Increase in revenues (+2%) due to winning new contracts
-
- Negative impact of SNCF strikes on Europorte EBITDA, estimated at €1.6 million
-
- Significant increase in EBITDA to €4 million, in line with the strategic plan
- ElecLink
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- On-time and on-budget
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- €355 million investment to date since taking control in 2016
Operating profit continues to improve
The consolidated revenues for the Group in the first six months of 2018 reached €510 million, an increase of €18 million, or +4% compared to the first half of 2017.
The Group’s operating costs have increased by €7 million for the six months. For the Fixed Link, charges increased by +4% to €203 million.
The consolidated figures for the first six months show an increase of €11 million in EBITDA to €250 million.
For the Fixed Link, this is the 9th consecutive first-half of the year when EBITDA has increased, +4% to €247 million.
We should remember that revenues and operating profit remain characterised by the strong seasonality across the year and that these first-half results cannot be extrapolated across the full year.
Net finance costs increased slightly (+€3 million) in the first six months of 2018, an increase due to the impact of the increase in British and French inflation on the cost of the indexed tranches of the debt.
In the first half of 2018, the Group’s net consolidated result was a profit of €39 million, an increase of +15%.
The Free Cash Flow for the Group’s continuing activities has increased by +€2 million to €108 million in the first six months of 2018, compared to €106 million in the first half of 2017.
OUTLOOK
Looking towards 2022, the Group remains confident in its capacity to generate sustainable growth and continues to expect growth in its EBITDA. The Group reconfirms its outlook for the medium term:
2018 Objectives:
- EBITDA: €545 million at an exchange rate of £1=€1.14
- Dividend 2018: €0.35 per share
Outlook for 2022:
- EBITDA: above €735 million (at least +38%)
- Free Cash Flow: c.€400 million (approx. +70%)
- Annual increase in dividend: +€0.05 per share
GROUP REVENUES
First half (January to June)
|
€ million |
|
|
1st half 2018* |
|
|
1st half 2017** |
|
|
Change |
|
|
1st half2017 |
|
|
Exchange rate €/£ |
|
|
1.136 |
|
|
1.136 |
|
|
|
|
|
1.161 |
|
|
Shuttle Services |
296 |
|
282 |
|
+5% |
|
285 |
|
|||||
|
Railway Network |
147 |
|
144 |
|
+2% |
|
146 |
|
|||||
|
Other revenues |
7 |
|
7 |
|
0% |
|
7 |
|
|||||
|
Sub-total Fixed Link |
450 |
|
433 |
|
+4% |
|
438 |
|
|||||
|
Europorte |
60 |
|
59 |
|
+2% |
|
59 |
|
|||||
|
Revenues |
510 |
|
492 |
|
+4% |
|
497 |
|
* Average exchange rate for the first half of 2018: 1£ = €1.136.
** Recalculated at the exchange average rate of the first half of 2018.
Second quarter (April to June)
|
€ million |
|
|
2nd quarter 2018 |
|
|
2nd quarter 2017 |
|
|
Change |
|
|
2nd quarter 2017 |
|
|
Shuttle Services |
157.5 |
|
152.6 |
|
+3% |
|
153.9 |
|
|||||
|
Railway Network |
77.5 |
|
76.3 |
|
+2% |
|
77.0 |
|
|||||
|
Other revenues |
3.9 |
|
4.1 |
|
-5% |
|
4.0 |
|
|||||
|
Sub-total Fixed Link |
238.9 |
|
233.0 |
|
+3% |
|
234.9 |
|
|||||
|
Europorte |
30.1 |
|
30.3 |
|
-1% |
|
30.3 |
|
|||||
|
Revenues |
269.0 |
|
263.3 |
|
+2% |
|
265.2 |
|
First quarter (January to March)
|
€ million |
|
|
1st quarter 2018* |
|
|
1st quarter 2017** |
|
|
Change |
|
|
1st quarter 2017 |
|
|
Exchange rate €/£ |
|
|
1.137 |
|
|
1.137 |
|
|
|
|
|
1.168 |
|
|
Shuttle Services |
138.3 |
|
129.4 |
|
+7% |
|
130.8 |
|
|||||
|
Railway Network |
70.1 |
|
68.1 |
|
+3% |
|
68.9 |
|
|||||
|
Other revenues |
3.3 |
|
3.1 |
|
+5% |
|
3.2 |
|
|||||
|
Sub-total Fixed Link |
211.7 |
|
200.6 |
|
+6% |
|
202.9 |
|
|||||
|
Europorte |
29.7 |
|
28.9 |
|
+3% |
|
28.9 |
|
|||||
|
Revenues |
241.4 |
|
229.5 |
|
+5% |
|
231.8 |
|
* Average exchange rate for the first quarter 2018: 1£ = €1.137.
** Recalculated at the exchange average rate of the first quarter of 2018.
FIXED LINK TRAFFIC
First half (January to June)
|
|
|
|
1st half-year 2018 |
|
|
1st half-year 2017 |
|
|
Change |
|
|
Truck Shuttles |
|
845,132 |
|
823,147 |
|
+3% |
|
|||
|
Passenger Shuttles |
Cars* |
1,163,054 |
|
1,138,087 |
|
+2% |
|
|||
|
Coaches |
27,274 |
|
27,714 |
|
-2% |
|
||||
|
High-speed passenger trains (Eurostar)** |
Passengers |
5,198,821 |
|
5,040,425 |
|
+3% |
|
|||
|
Rail Freight*** |
Tonnes |
670,853 |
|
601,237 |
|
+12% |
|
|||
|
Trains |
1,060 |
|
1,043 |
|
+2% |
|
Second quarter (April to June)
|
|
|
|
|
|
2nd quarter 2018 |
|
|
2nd quarter 2017 |
|
|
Change |
|
|
|
|
Truck Shuttles |
|
|
421,281 |
|
413,291 |
|
+2% |
|
||||
|
|
Passenger Shuttles |
Cars* |
675,851 |
|
671,525 |
|
+1% |
|
|||||
|
|
Coaches |
16,462 |
|
16,548 |
|
-1% |
|
||||||
|
|
High-speed passenger trains (Eurostar)** |
Passengers |
2,819,078 |
|
2,769,754 |
|
+2% |
|
|||||
|
|
Rail Freight*** |
Tonnes |
298,692 |
|
292,512 |
|
+2% |
|
|||||
|
|
Trains |
484 |
|
500 |
|
-3% |
|
First quarter (January to March)
|
|
|
|
1st quarter 2018 |
|
|
|
1st quarter 2017 |
|
|
Change |
Truck Shuttles |
|
|
423,851 |
|
409,856 |
|
+3% |
||||
Passenger Shuttles |
Cars* |
487,203 |
|
466,562 |
|
+4% |
|||||
Coaches |
10,812 |
|
11,166 |
|
-3% |
||||||
High-speed passenger trains (Eurostar)** |
Passengers |
2,379,743 |
|
2,270,671 |
|
+5% |
|||||
Rail Freight*** |
Tonnes |
372,161 |
|
308,725 |
|
+21% |
|||||
Trains |
576 |
|
543 |
|
+6% |
* Including motorcycles, vehicles with trailers, caravans and motor homes.
** Only passengers using Eurostar to cross the Channel are included in this table, thus excluding those who travel between Continental stations (such as Brussels-Calais, Brussels-Lille, Brussels-Amsterdam).
*** Rail freight services by train operators (DB Cargo on behalf of BRB, SNCF and its subsidiaries, GB Railfreight, Rail Operations Group, RailAdventure and Europorte) using the Tunnel.
- All comparisons with the income statement for the first half of 2017 are made at the average exchange rate for the first half of 2018 of £1=€1.136.