Eurotunnel

Résumé du document

One of the most ambitious projects in the end of the 20th century was to create a tunnel undersea to connect France and the United Kingdom. In 1880, the construction began according to the scheme of Aimé Thomé de Gamond but the Great Depression halted the progress. Next, the project "Eurotunnel? reappeared in 1986 and was chosen among four projects to connect the both countries. It is the longest tunnel undersea in the world. Its work began in 1994 with a delay of 18 months. Since its inauguration, it has transported 212 million passengers. Everyday, 26 000 passengers and 50 000 t of wares pass by this tunnel. The tunnel is exploited by two companies, one Eurotunnel SA is French, and the other Eurotunnel plc is British. Both the companies have an exploitation concession up to 2086 since 2006.

Extraits

[...] So, its financial future is promising but it must always be careful to its debt. Its financial situation is still unstable. Eurotunnel has the possibility to leave its status of “penny stock” thanks to its good results. Eurotunnel anticipates a slight increase of its turnover in 2009 namely 555.2 million pounds. The operating cash flow will be 257.3 million pounds. For the future, Eurotunnel must settle the problem with shareholders because that has a negative effect on the organisation and the results of the firm. [...]

[...] Kilometres per annum on the French territory, representing a progression from approximately in favour of the railway freight, is more than one quarter of the objective of the French government. Current Situation Thanks to the management of Jacques Gounon, the chief executive officer, Eurotunnel has avoided the bankruptcy. It will have been necessary a little more than 20 years for Eurotunnel, the developer of the Channel tunnel, one of the biggest works of the XXth century, but also financial abyss, to become finally profitable. [...]

[...] Conclusion Eurotunnel has known the difficult beginnings with an important debt and the conflicts between the shareholders and the managers. It is the perfect example of a company which has to wait a long time before to be profitable. Thanks to a restructuring's plan and of course a good cultural management Eurotunnel knows a better period. Eurotunnel did not enough study the culture of France and Great Britain. The problems of Eurotunnel haven't perceived of the same way in the both countries. [...]

[...] From 1998 to 2003 Eurotunnel fall in strategy dilemma. Eurotunnel needed to grow traffic to satisfy all stakeholders, the company and the staff would gain from better utilization of capacity, government wanted modal shift of passengers and freight to long-distance rail in line with EU transport policies and creditor banks wanted a strategy more secure. With this different dilemma the board wished invests in a new tunnel- operated England to Switzerland through freight service or cutting tunnel access charges said M. [...]

[...] Consequently, Eurotunnel didn't generate enough money to face these debts. In the beginning, the tunnel met many technical faults. Thus, these problems created many delays which gave an image of reliability”. The management structure is divided in three companies: SNCF, London and Continental, SNCB. This complex structure doesn't facilitate the tunnel exploitation and create many difficulties. Moreover, the emergence of low cost companies adds a new difficulty to develop the activity. Thus, airline companies and ferries are real competitors. The tunnel is not the only channels which joins the both countries. [...]