(News Bulletin 247) – The infrastructure operator saw its stock price drop significantly following the announcement of a surprise walkout which led to a total interruption of traffic.

Bad surprise for Getlink stock. The Channel Tunnel operator is facing an unexpected strike which has led it to suspend its service until further notice and close its terminals in France and the United Kingdom, which weighs on its stock this Thursday after noon.

Around 5 p.m., the stock dropped more than 3.5% to 16.23 euros, in a sluggish market, with the SBF 120 losing 0.3%. The stock especially fell a little after 3 p.m., that is to say a few tens of minutes after the announcement of this walkout movement.

“The call for a strike, which occurred today from representatives of the staff unions of the French Eurotunnel site, caused the complete interruption of service and the closure of our terminals in France and the United Kingdom. The organizations unions rejected the exceptional bonus of 1,000 euros announced at the end of the year by management and called for a strike to demand a tripling of it,” the company indicated in a statement sent to BFMBusiness.com.

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Suspended traffic

“We are currently informing all of our customers of the situation via our digital communication channels and are working to restore the situation. We are continuing the dialogue with trade union organizations in order to resolve the situation,” continued Getlink.

In 2022, traffic via the Channel Tunnel represented 1.45 million trucks transported by Eurotunnel shuttles and 2.1 million passenger vehicles. The number of travelers using Eurostar trains stood at 8.3 million.

It remains to be seen how many days the walkouts will last, while the French Minister of Transport, Clément Beaune, called for a solution to be found “immediately”, deeming the blocking of the tunnel “unacceptable”.

Around 138 billion euros in merchandise trade

Last week, independent research firm AlphaValue lowered its recommendation on the value from “accumulate” to “lighten”. AlphaValue explained that it no longer expected a rebound in Eurotunnel shuttle traffic, whether for trucks or passenger vehicles, because the economic slowdown observed in the United Kingdom and to a lesser extent in France is likely to persist next year.

“This could have an impact on both the number of passengers and, to a greater extent, truck traffic. Therefore, we are adopting a cautious approach in revising our forecast downwards (…) we have reduced our Ebitda (gross operating profit) forecast for 2024 of 13% and 18% for 2025”, concluded AlphaValue.

According to the research office, around 138 billion euros of goods are transported each year thanks to Eurotunnel, which represents 26% of trade between the United Kingdom and the European Union. Getlink, for its part, estimates that 65% of its revenues depend on “economic conditions and trade between the United Kingdom and continental Europe, as well as geopolitical conditions”.