EBM: Jacques Gounon, hello. You are the Chairman and CEO of Getlink which has just published its full-year results. What are the main takeaways of 2017?
Jacques Gounon: First of all, I would like to thank our staff who did a very good job this year, because for the eighth consecutive year we are growing again with revenue up 4% to over €1 billion. EBITDA-wise, we are up 6% with €526 million of EBITDA, which is a very strong figure and of course slightly better than our own forecast. So, it means everything is going well and more importantly as we are a cash machine, I can say that we increased our cash flows by €97 million up to €236 million, so these are very strong figures. So, all in all, based on these very good results, the board has decided to propose to the next AGM, a new increase of our dividend by 5 cents up to 30 cents per share, and I think it’s something which is a clear signal of the confidence we have of past results and let’s say future results, but we have time to come back to the future of the company.
EBM: Well let’s go perhaps to Eurotunnel which achieved a 4% increase in sales, a 5% increase in EBITDA to €521 million, clearly the Channel Tunnel is doing very well.
Jacques Gounon: Yes indeed, and our operational margin is 57% which is very high and it is 70 basis points more than last year, so it means that year after year we are delivering more, we are increasing and focusing on our quality of service, because in fact our success is based on three pillars: quality of service – I would say quality of service, quality of service, quality of service – but more than that, digitalisation of processes in order to make savings, in order to have more fluidity, to have more comfort for our customers and we don’t stress on this very positive result of Eurostar this year, they had a new growth after the difficult years they have had in the past, and what is very good for 2018 is the fact that they will open, on the 4th of April, the new destination, the new route between London and Amsterdam, and we are all waiting a lot from this new destination for a lot of citizens travelling within Europe.
EBM: Well, let’s take a closer look now at two of your businesses, Europort and ElecLink.
Jacques Gounon; We did very well on both sides and in both businesses; Europort is profitable, which is something new in France when we know that SNCF freight is definitely failing. Result: EBITDA of Europort is €6 million and we have a net result, so it means that there is no fatality in this kind of business. And with the Silk Road, you know the Chinese project of ‘One Road One Belt’, which at the end comes into France, we do believe that there is a strong potential for increase in this kind of rail freight business. And we are very proud of this result. ElecLink did also a very good job. We are on time and on budget which is absolutely key for this kind of investment. We are working closely with contractors, with ICG and safety committees of course, because safety is a key issue, and also with the regulators in order to be able to operate the new interconnection early 2020. It will bring significant added value to the company, because on such basis, we believe that for the five next years we can deliver in 2022 more than €700 million of EBITDA. This is clear evidence that we have a different picture of the future of the group and we are very confident on such deliveries.
EBM: Well certainly the group is doing very well. Tell us more perhaps about your outlook for the years to come.
Jacques Gounon: First of all, of course we want to serve our shareholders with increased dividends, and so we do think that we have the possibility to increase by 5 cent each year, which means for next year it will be a guidance of a dividend of 35 cents per share, based on a guidance of the EBITDA which is €545 million and definitely in line with the previous forecast we had, if we take on board of course all the change which happened in our environment. So definitively we don’t change our views about the fact that we can deliver increased profitability, increased cash, increased cash flows and increased dividends for our shareholders.
EBM: Jacques Gounon, thank you very much.
Jacques Gounon: Thank you.
