European Infrastructure Finance Yearbook - Investing In Bonds ...

ack rolling last-twelve-month basis is at
least 1.25x; and
• Certain prepayments, capitalization, or
waiver do not give rise to a tax liability.
Synthetic DSCR is defined as the ratio of net
cash flow (NCF) to the higher of debt service and
synthetic debt service. NCF is defined as EBITDA,
minus capital expenditures and working capital
change, plus any interest revenue received.
Synthetic debt service is defined as net finance
charges other than the step-up amount, the
synthetic amortization schedule of the loan, and
any actual amortization profile of any debt
obligation other than the loan. Synthetic
amortization profile is modeled as if the loan was
paid down as an annuity.
Business Profile
Business description
Eurotunnel operates the Channel Tunnel between
the U.K. (Folkestone) and France (Calais; see the
system map in chart 5) under a concession
granted by the U.K. and French governments until
2086. The Dover-Calais/Dunkerque corridor (the
“short straits”) is the shortest and most widely
used of all cross-channel routes.
Eurotunnel offers a service that it operates itself
between Calais and Folkestone, and which
Chart 5
The Eurotunnel System
STANDARD & POOR’S EUROPEAN INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCE YEARBOOK
TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE
competes directly with ferry operators in the
transport of passengers, cars, coaches, and trucks
in specially designed railway carriages
(Eurotunnel’s own shuttle services generated 56%
of € 830 million turnover in 2006).
It also offers an infrastructure facilitating a
direct rail link for the Eurostar trains and freight
trains; 50% of tunnel capacity is made available
to the British Railways Board (BRB; a U.K.
government agency) and Société Nationale des
Chemins de Fer Français (SNCF; the French stateowned
railway operator). Railway revenues
represented 42% of turnover in 2006.
The tunnel is directly linked to the British and
French motorway and railway networks. All rail
traffic in the tunnel is controlled from railway
control centers on the French and British
terminals.
The system comprises three tunnels. Two of the
tunnels are single-track rail tunnels, which in
normal service are used by trains traveling in one
direction only. The third tunnel provides a safe
means of emergency evacuation and access for
maintenance of the tunnel. There are also four
crossing points between the rail tunnels, so that
when maintenance work is being done on a
section of one tunnel, trains can switch to
the other.
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