Eurotunnel Wants €10m In Migrant Costs Repaid

Eurotunnel (Paris: FR0010533075 - news) wants the British and French governments to repay €9.7m (£6.8m) it has spent on boosting security amid the migrants crisis on the French side of the channel tunnel.

The company announced the request as it unveiled its financial figures for the first half of the year.

Profits and revenue are both up 9% despite disruption to services caused by people trying to enter the UK illegally and strikes by its own ferry staff .

But chief executive Jaques Gounon said: "Public authorities underestimate the migrant situation."

He warned the thousands of people fleeing their own countries and concentrated in the Calais area could continue to disrupt traffic and lead to additional security costs.

He revealed that Eurotunnel had spent €13m on security measures in the first half of 2015 and he believed that €9.7m of that figure should be recovered from the French and UK governments.

The Home Secretary Theresa May confirmed a week ago that the British taxpayer was to pay for a "secure zone" on the French side of the tunnel to ensure lorries were free from invasion by migrants.

The company maintained its forecast for higher annual profits despite the turmoil on the tracks.

It cited the growing strength of the UK economy, which drove first half earnings.

Revenue hit €649m and profits €252m in the period, also shrugging off the impact of the Islamist militant attacks in Paris in January.

Eurotunnel's Dover-to-Calais ferry service, MyFerryLink, posted a loss of €2m despite revenues jumping 33%.

The company was forced to sell MyFerryLink by competition authorities and a deal with Danish firm DFDS (Copenhagen: DFDS.CO - news) was announced in June.

MyFerryLink staff have staged a number of wildcat walkouts in protest at the sale, which is expected to result in job losses.