THE commercial fallout from French nuclear testing in the South Pacific has put the kiss of death on everything French, with the present strength of the franc adding to the resolve of environmentally-conscious holidaymakers to give France a miss this year.

British camping holiday group Eurocamp may have no tents pitched on the Mururoa Atoll, yet it is reliant on the French market for a large chunk of its income. Bookings are about 20 per cent below last year, forcing the company to cut back capacity in line with demand.

In the year to end October last, Eurocamp's pretax profits rose 7 per cent to £9.3 million sterling. Brokers have pared current year profit projections from £12 million to £10 million. Although dividends rise 5 per cent to 11p, the market value of shareholders' investment tumbled 21p to 230p a share. One more thing to blame on Mr Chirac.

Victor Kuss