MPs are raising concerns over P&O Ferries’ financial stability, despite the company providing written assurance that it has sufficient funds to continue operating, according to a report by ITV.
Last month, Liam Byrne, Chair of the Business and Trade Select Committee, wrote to P&O’s Chief Executive following the company’s failure to meet a legal deadline for filing its accounts and the abrupt resignation of its auditor, KPMG.
P&O Ferries Holdings Limited’s 2023 accounts are now eight months overdue—the third consecutive year the company has filed late.
In a written response published this morning, P&O CEO Peter Hebblethwaite attributed the delay to “a period of transformation and restructuring” and said the company expects to publish its accounts “by early July 2025.”
Previous accounts, filed in late 2024, revealed that P&O Ferries spent over £47 million in 2022 on dismissing hundreds of UK seafarers and replacing them with lower-cost agency workers.
P&O Ferries has faced significant financial difficulties in recent years.
In March 2022, the company abruptly dismissed 800 UK staff without notice, replacing them with lower-cost agency workers in a drastic bid to reduce costs and stave off bankruptcy.
The company’s 2022 accounts, filed 13 months late, revealed it had borrowed over £300 million from its parent company, DP World, to remain operational. The same filings also indicated that P&O was struggling to meet its financial obligations and was in breach of covenants related to its external debt.
MPs are pressing P&O Ferries for full transparency over the financial support it is receiving from its parent company, DP World, including the exact amount, the terms of the assistance, and whether it is sufficient to keep the business afloat.
The company has been given a deadline of 16th June to provide clear answers.
“P&O is not being transparent,” said Liam Byrne, chair of the Business and Trade Select Committee. “We are completely open to recalling P&O to give a better account of themselves in front of the House of Commons. This company is too important for it to go wrong. Too much is at stake and, frankly, this saga has been going on for too long.”
