Eurotunnel proposed paying its first dividend of 4 cents a share as 2008 marked the end of financial uncertainty at the cross-Channel rail tunnel operator which has come close to bankruptcy.
The Franco-British company, which carries Eurostar trains beneath the Channel, said net profit reached €40 million in 2008 compared with a 2007 loss of €12 million at constant exchange rates, restated following a financial restructuring.
"The group has recorded a solid profit which, for the first time in our history, allows us to pay a dividend ...," chief executive Jacques Gounon told reporters at a conference call on Wednesday.
After years of debt crisis, Eurotunnel reached a major restructuring deal with its shareholders in 2007 that saved it from collapse.
Eurotunnel shares rose by as much as 7.1 per cent and were up 12.1 per cent at €3.14 by 8.56am, giving the company a market value of about €596 million.
Eurotunnel's revenues fell to €704 millions from €718 million in 2007 and were down 2 per cent at constant exchange rates as traffic capacity in the last quarter of the year was halved following a tunnel fire in September.
The fire led to a significant reduction in full-year shuttle revenues, down 7 per cent at €431 million, Eurotunnel said. But the opening of the second section of high-speed track in Britain resulted in a 7 per cent revenue rise at constant exchange rates from railways.
Reuters
