Condor extends loan for second time in seven months

Wednesday 15 May 2024

Condor has extended a loan agreement with Natwest for the second time in just seven months.

The investment holding company Condor UK Holdings Limited has filed a registration of charge at Companies House dated 30 April, part of the lending process, having first refinanced the existing loan at the end of September.

The company has failed to respond to questions from Bailiwick Express about the latest move, which came a couple of weeks ahead of Guernsey and Jersey going out to tender for the routes that it currently operates.

Condor UK Holdings is late filing its accounts, they were due on 31 March.

But Condor Ferries Limited posted a £1.4m. loss in the year ending 25 March 2023., having shown a profit of £480,187 in the previous year.

Pictured: Condor Voyager.

Condor Ferries Limited provides management services and acts as an agent for passenger and freight shipping.

Turnover at Condor Ferries Limited was up in the latest year; £7,593,581 compared to £6,292,007 in 2022.

But the accounts show administrative expenses rising from £3,298,886 to £6,056,948.

There is no detail of what that consisted of.

Earlier this week, Brittany Ferries, part owner of Condor, announced that it had chartered Condor Clipper to sail between Cherbourg and Rosslare as well as Cherbourg and Portsmouth from 20 May.

Condor has faced a challenging time, hiking its freight charges by some 19% from January this year.

Early in December, then CEO John Napton released a statement which said that Condor had been working with its stakeholders "to overcome a temporary but challenging time".

"We are confident that this is very near to being resolved and will have no impact on our services now or in the long term," he said.

Last summer, the States of Guernsey loaned Condor £26m., while also investing another £3m., to buy what is now the Condor Islander.