Shipping group P&O announced that a reorganisation of its ferries business had gone well as it reported an upbeat first quarter.

P&O said it had achieved nearly 1,000 of the planned 1,200 job cuts in the ferries division while other changes, such as more flexible staffing, were running successfully.

The restructuring, which led to group losses of £210m last year, has achieved cost savings ahead of schedule.

P&O said the first quarter performance had been encouraging, particularly in its core ports business, where there had been significant volume growth - 17 per cent - in China and India.

While the market for ferries remained challenging, it was stable overall, the company said.