Eurostar 1st half sales down 7 percent, but leisure travel segment boosted by euro strength

Eurostar 1H sales down 7 percent

LONDON — Cross-channel train operator Eurostar Group Ltd. on Wednesday said sales slumped 7 percent in the first half of the year as the recession hit business travel particularly hard.

A sharper fall in sales was only avoided by a 4 percent rise in leisure travel, boosted by the strength of the euro against the pound.

Ticket sales in the six months ending June 30 were 342.2 million pounds ($560 million), while passenger numbers dropped 6 percent to 4.34 million.

The strong euro exchange rate encouraged more tourism to the U.K. from Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands, said Chief Executive Richard Brown. The company has also been promoting 59 pound return fares to the continent from London.

The company said it had achieved a record punctuality of 95.7 percent since the Channel Tunnel fully reopened on Feb. 23 following a major fire.