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P&O predicts ferry fares will rise through merger
Page 11
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• Ferry giant P&O predicts that cross-Channel ferry fares will rise and capacity will be cut by up to a third over the next year following the Government's decision to allow the group to merge with other operators.
P&O chairman Lord Sterling has confirmed that the group is talking to rival ferry operators in a bid to halt to solve the price war which has broken out since the opening of the Channel Tunnel.
He says that acute overcapacity in the industry must to be resolved quickly if it is to mow• er next year. The need for action was underlined when P&O announced that profits from its ferry operation had fallen from £24.8m to £500,(XX) in the first half of this year.
P&O has already followed up its container merger wi'h Nedlloyd by buying its 5 interest in North Sea Ferries , £2525m (CM 19-25 Sept). This means P&O now owns all of NSF, which will be merged with P8z0 European Ferries form a new company, P&O Norith Sea Ferries.