Cross-Channel operator Brittany Ferries has received a 45m-euro bailout from the French government to help it recover from losses caused by Covid-related travel restrictions.
The company, which has its 海角视频 headquarters in Plymouth, saw revenue sink by 267m euros as the pandemic slashed passenger numbers to 752,102 in 2020 from 2,498,354 in 2019.
Despite receiving 117m euros in French government-backed loans from French banks, and other regional support across the Channel, the company still needed more support.
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It has now been bailed out with “exceptional aid” of 45m euros and has thanked French President Emmanuel Macron for coming to the company’s aid.
Brittany Ferries said that for more than a year it had warned the French state of its deteriorating financial situation as it battled the Brexit and Covid crises.
In particular, the closure of passenger services on the English Channel, a direct consequence of travel restrictions put in place by various European governments to control the Covid pandemic, had a huge impact.
Support first came to the company in 2020 in the form of government-backed loans issued by French banks to the tune of €117m. The company was further supported by the regions of Brittany and Normandy. It was therefore able to rely on its resilience for nearly two years, in the face of the “double storm” of Brexit and Covid. However, significant accumulated losses made it impossible to resort to further loans to guarantee a return to growth.
Brittany Ferries, which is the largest employer of French sailors as well as being a vector of economic and tourist development of the Brittany and Normandy regions, said it had no other recourse than seek reimbursement for the damage suffered as a direct consequence of the forced closure of passenger services.
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Jean-Marc Roué, president of Brittany Ferries, said: “Since the spring of 2020, I have relentlessly warned the French government of the need for specific support for our sector, on cross-channel services,” said Jean-Marc Roué, president of Brittany Ferries.
“So I would particularly like to thank the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, for the warm support for our company and our seafarers announced, forcefully, at the Assises de la Mer last September, at the conclusion of the Fontenoy du Maritime, as well as the Prime Minister, Jean Castex.
“I cannot forget what we also owe to the ministries concerned, and more particularly Annick Girardin, Minister of the Sea, and of course Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister of Europe and Foreign Trade, for their unfailing support, without forgetting that of our friends, deputies and senators from Brittany and Normandy.
“Thanks to them, our company has regained the equity necessary for its recovery. After the time of resilience comes the time of competitiveness.”
French-owned Brittany Ferries was launched in 1972 and started operation in January 1973. It now employs 2,474 people and runs 12 vessels between France, Spain and Ireland and Plymouth and Portsmouth in the 海角视频. But it saw revenue dip to 202.4m euros in 2020, from 469m euros the year before, as the pandemic hit passenger services.
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Freight was less badly affected during the pandemic with 160,377 vehicles carried in 2020, compared to 201,554 in 2019. In October 2020, the company predicted a freight boost could occur as trade continued and even expanded post-Covid lockdowns and in September 2021 world-leading shipping company CMA CGM Group announced it had made a 25million-euro investment in Brittany Ferries to help it bounce back by carrying more freight.
The agreement establishes a commercial partnership between the CMA CGM Group,which operates a fleet of 542 container ships around the world, and Brittany Ferries through the use of available cargo space on board ferry services to the 海角视频, Ireland and the Iberian Peninsula. It will mean Brittany Ferries carrying more goods aboard its roll-on roll-off (roro) ships, thereby gaining more expertise in freight and logistics and adapting to the post-Covid-19 trend in goods transportation.