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Finnish consortium plans to buy stake in STX Finland, invites government to join

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 21 January 2013 21 January 2013

A number of suppliers and contractors in the shipbuilding industry want to buy a minority stake in STX Finland, the ailing shipbuilder in South Korea’s STX Business Group, and they have asked the Finnish government to join in, media reports say.

“A number of major companies are involved in this, also from outside Finland Proper,” Juha Hietarinta, Managing Director of electrical installation firm Laivasahkotyo was quoted by the Finnish national broadcaster YLE as saying. Finland Proper is the province in which the city of Turku is located. STX Finland has a shipyard there and another one in Rauma.

Hietarinta said that the consortium expects that the Finnish government too acquire a holding in STX Finland, which before Christmas lost an order for a third Oasis class cruise liner.

Economic affairs minister Jan Vapaavuori said on Saturday that the government’s participation in acquiring a stake in STX Finlabnd is an option. However, he pointed out that the yard had lost the third Oasis order to STX France already before the government rejected STX Finland’s request for a €50 million subordinated loan. The government did agree to grant the company a smaller amount under different terms.

Financing of the two ships TUI Cruises has on order at STX Finland remains unsolved and Hietarinta said the question is about a few days or weeks at most to solve the matter. The consortium of companies that plans to acquire a stake in the shipbuilder wants not only to secure this order, but to restore confidence in the builder so that it could win new orders.

Norwegian prices IPO at $19 per share, above indicated range

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 18 January 2013 18 January 2013

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd says it has priced its initial public offering (IPO) of 23,529,412 of its ordinary shares at $19.00 per share., the company said in a statement. Earlier, it had indicated that the offering would be priced in the range of $16.00 to $18.00 per share.

“In addition, the Company has granted underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 3,529,412 additional ordinary shares at the initial public offering price,” Norwegian said. The shares are expected to begin trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market on January 18, 2013 under the symbol "NCLH".

UBS Investment Bank and Barclays are acting as bookrunners and the representatives of the underwriters for the offering. Citigroup, Deutsche Bank Securities, Goldman, Sachs & Co. and J.P. Morgan are also acting as bookrunners for the offering. DNB Markets, HSBC, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Wells Fargo Securities and Lebenthal Capital Markets are acting as co-managers for the offering.

 

Carnival Corporation & plc re-establishes $1 billion share repurchase program; declares quarterly dividend

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 17 January 2013 17 January 2013

Carnival Corporation & plc announced that it has renewed its authorization for the repurchase of up to $1 billion of its common stock and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share.

The company has repurchased two million shares of Carnival Corporation common stock valued at $78 million since the start of fiscal 2013, bringing the total amount purchased to date under the September 2007 $1 billion authorization to $835 million. Yesterday, the company's board of directors increased the remaining $165 million repurchase authorization to $1 billion.

"Our ongoing share repurchase program demonstrates our continued confidence in the earnings power of our global brands," said Micky Arison, Carnival Corporation & plc chairman and CEO. "We remain committed to increasing shareholder returns through a combination of dividend distributions and opportunistic share repurchases," he added.

The share repurchase authorization covers both Carnival Corporation common stock traded on the New York Stock Exchange and Carnival plc ordinary shares traded on the London Stock Exchange. Repurchases will take place in the open market or privately negotiated transactions in accordance with applicable laws, rules and regulations. The stock repurchase is subject to prevailing market conditions and other considerations.

The board approved a record date for the quarterly dividend of February 22, 2013 with a payment date of March 15, 2013. Holders of Carnival Corporation common stock and Carnival plc ADSs will receive the dividend payable in U.S. dollars. The dividend for Carnival plc ordinary shares will be payable in U.S. dollars or sterling. In the absence of instructions or elections to the contrary, holders of Carnival plc ordinary shares will automatically receive the dividend in sterling.

Dividends payable in sterling will be converted from U.S. dollars at the exchange rate quoted by the Bank of England in London at 12 noon on March 1, 2013. Holders of Carnival plc ordinary shares wishing to receive their dividend in U.S. dollars or participate in the Carnival plc Dividend Reinvestment Plan must elect to do so by February 22, 2013.

International Group to raise passenger vessel reinsurance cover cost 125% for new policy year

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 15 January 2013 15 January 2013

The International Group of P&I Clubs, the London based ceiling organisation of mutual providers of liability cover for shipping companies, says significant increases will be introduced in reinsurance cover cost in the 2013/14 policy year that will start on 20 February.

”The 2011/12 policy year produced the first and third largest ever claims on the Group pool resulting in a very significant exposure to the Group's reinsurers. This exposure, coupled with general concerns regarding the increased cost of major casualties, and in particular removal of wreck and SCOPIC exposure, has led the Group’s reinsurers to seek significant rises in the renewal premium for the 2013/14 policy year. There will as a result be rate increases for all vessel categories for the renewal,” the Group said.

For passenger vessels, the increase will be 125% to $3.1493 per gross ton, almost four times as high as for the second largest increase by vessel type, the Group said in an attached list showing the new rates by vessel type.

In order to mitigate the impact of the increase, the excess point on the GXL contract will be increased from US $60 million to US $70 million with the additional US $10 million retained within the Group pool reinsured by the Group captive Hydra for US $40m excess US $30m. In addition, the Hydra coinsurance share in the first layer of the Group general excess loss (US $500 million excess US $70 million) will be increased from 25% to 30%. For 2013/14, a three layer pool structure will be introduced with a lower pool layer from US$ 9 million to US$ 45 million, an upper pool layer from US$ 45 million to US$ 60 million (within which as currently there is a claiming club retention of 10%) and an upper upper pool layer from US $60 million to US $70 million (within which there is a claiming club retention of 5%).

 Also, reflecting the continued improvement in the record of the dirty tankers sector, there will be a further reduction in the US oil pollution voyage surcharge.

 Hugo Wynn-Williams, Chairman of the International Group Reinsurance Sub-Committee, reported that after a period of years over which the favourable claims history and exposure to the Group reinsurance programme had enabled reinsurance rates to be reduced year-on-year, the inevitable consequence of the significant claims on the 2011/12 policy year was a substantial readjustment in reinsurers pricing but that through the use of the Group captive Hydra it has been possible to mitigate the full extent of the increased reinsurance cost to shipowners entered in the Group clubs.

 For 2013/14, the allocation of the market reinsurance cost between the different vessel categories has, as in previous years, been assessed in accordance with the Group’s general allocation objectives, principally that of moving towards a claims versus premium balance for each vessel type over the medium to longer term. The vessel type rates applied for 2013/14 reflect the continuing favourable tanker premium/claims record and the on-going objective of bringing the claims versus premium records back towards equilibrium in dry sector which is moving positively, and in particular in the passenger sector where there remains a long-term imbalance to address through the allocation process.