Compania Sud Americana News

The automaker wants the Federal Maritime Commission to order payments from Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics AS and its sister company EUKOR Car Carriers Inc, Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd, Compania Sud Americana de Vapores, Hoegh Autoliners AS and affiliated companies. Fiat Chrysler filed its complaint on Oct. 17. All but one of the shippers sued by Fiat Chrysler pleaded guilty and admitted to price fixing as part of a Justice Department investigation. The remaining firm, Hoegh, agreed last month to plead guilty and pay a $21 million criminal fine.

The European Commission said on Friday it had cleared French shipping group CMA CGM's $2.4 billion takeover of Neptune Orient Lines on condition that NOL pulls out from a rival shipping alliance. The announcement confirms a Reuters report on April 21 about the impending approval. CMA CGM, the world's third-biggest container shipping company, is looking to strengthen its position against bigger rivals Maersk Line and Swiss-based Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC). The European Commission said in a statement that its approval was conditional on CMA CGM's commitment to withdraw NOL from the G6 alliance, which competes with its own Ocean Three alliance.

EU approval conditional on NOL pulling out from G6 alliance. French shipping group CMA CGM's $2.4 billion takeover of Neptune Orient Lines is set to be cleared by the European Union's competition regulators, on condition that NOL pulls out from a rival shipping alliance, two people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. CMA CGM, the world's third-biggest container shipping company, is looking to strengthen its position against bigger rivals Maersk Line and Swiss-based Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC). CMA CGM's plan to withdraw NOL from the G6 alliance, which competes with its own Ocean Three alliance, was able to address European Commission concerns, the people said.

French container shipping group CMA CGM has offered concessions in a bid to win European Union antitrust approval for its $2.4 billion takeover of Singaporean rival Neptune Orient Lines. CMA CGM, which ranks behind No. 1 Maersk Line and Swiss peer MSC in global shipping, submitted the concessions on Thursday, a filing on the European Commission website showed on Monday, without giving details. CMA is expected to withdraw NOL from competing shipping alliances to allay concerns, people familiar with the matter said. The tie-up between German container shipping company Hapag Lloyd and Chilean peer Compania Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV)…

German container shipping group Hapag-Lloyd has reported a net profit of €114 million ($127.5 million) on revenue of €8.8 billion for 2015 – a turnaround from a loss of €604 million on revenue of €6.8 billion the previous year. The firm has suffered from serious losses in recent years and posted a €604 million loss in 2014. The firm noted that presence in attractive niche markets, combined with a balanced trade portfolio had led to "synergies, cost-cutting program and a more competitive fleet. The company announced that earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to €831 million ($929 million), a jump up over the year previous when EBITDA earnings were €99 million ($110.7 million).

German container shipping group Hapag Lloyd said it expected a clear increase in operating profit this year thanks to a market recovery, cost cuts and synergies from its merger with Chilean shipper CSAV. Its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) had swung to a 366 million euro profit in 2015, from a year-earlier loss of 383 million. It swung to a net profit of 114 million euros from a 2014 loss of 604 million, Hapag-Lloyd said on Wednesday. Hamburg-based Hapag-Lloyd completed a merger with Compania Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV) in December 2014.

The need of the hour is consolidation of container ship lines order to regain profitability and to overcome financial struggles, consulting firm AlixPartners says in a new report. The report says that an increased supply of vessels, coupled with the introduction of giant ships, had met with a dwindling demand in the second half of last year resulting to overcapacity, low profitability and reduced cash flow. The shippers with “M&A on their minds need to be proactive” if they hope to reap the kind of rewards winners in consolidated industries enjoy—or to prevent becoming acquisition targets themselves, the consultants suggested, pointing to the successful consolidation of the US airline industry as a possible template to follow.

China has fined seven shipping companies, including Japan's Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, a total of 407 million yuan ($62.85 million) for price-fixing, the country's state economic planner said in a statement on Monday. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said the companies colluded to raise rates on shipments of cars, trucks, and construction machinery across five shipping routes, including between China and Europe, for at least four years, violating the country's anti-monopoly laws. The other six companies fined were Japan's Mitsui OSK Lines and Eastern Car Liner Ltd., South Korea's Eukor Car Carriers, Norway's Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics AS, Chile's Compania Sud Americana de Vapores, and a separate shipping subsidiary within CSAV, the NDRC said.

Hapag-Lloyd AG, the German container shipping company, has succeeded in completing its  initial public offering (IPO), after a hard campaign in which the outcome sometimes looked in doubt. It has set the final offer price for its shares at €20 ($21.91), the low end of the bookbuilding range. The Container shipping line said it raised approximately $300 million in primary proceeds through the initial public offering. The deal’s main target was to raise primary proceeds for the company. The target for this was reduced from $500m to $300m (€265m) at the start of the bookbuild on October 14, but Hapag-Lloyd has succeeded in raising that much.

Confirming that the company is preparing its initial public offering, Hapag-Lloyd said it “expects total gross proceeds in the equivalent euro amount of US$500 million from the IPO,” says a report in Reuters. Rolf Habben Jansen, Chief Executive of Germany’s biggest container shipper said that: "There will never be a perfect time ... one should not be too dependent on (the market). Some $400 million will be raised from institutional and retail investors, with core owners Kühne Maritime and Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores placing orders of $50 million apiece, the company said earlier in a statement.

Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) changed the rating for German Container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd to positive from stable, thanks to cheaper fuel. According to  Moody’s the outlook on the B2 corporate family rating (CFR), the B2-PD probability of default rating (PDR) and the Caa1 senior unsecured rating of Hapag-Lloyd AG. Concurrently, Moody's has affirmed the ratings assigned to the company, including its B2 CFR, B2-PD PDR and Caa1 senior unsecured rating. The change in outlook to positive from stable mainly reflects the company's improved operating performance since the beginning of 2015, driven by the lower bunker fuel price.

German container carrier Hapag-Lloyd is looking to sell shares for a total US$500 million, and will seek listings in Hamburg and Frankfurt before the end of 2015. Hapag-Lloyd has confirmed that it is preparing for a US500 million initial public offering (IPO) this year, with the expectation that it will use some of the proceeds to order ultra large containerships. "This move will give us better access to the capital markets which will enable us to further invest in our business to become more competitive," Reuter quoted Hapag-Lloyd Chief Executive Rolf Habben Jansen as saying. Hapag-Lloyd may be valued at more than 5 billion euros in the IPO.

Moody's Investors Service has changed to stable from negative the outlook on the B2 corporate family rating (CFR), the B2-PD probability of default rating (PDR) and the Caa1  senior unsecured rating of Hapag-Lloyd AG. Concurrently, Moody's has  affirmed the ratings assigned to the company including its B2 CFR, B2-PD  PDR and Caa1 senior unsecured rating. Headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, Hapag-Lloyd AG is the fourth-largest  container shipping company in the world measured in TEU. During 2014,  Hapag-Lloyd reported revenues EUR6.8 billion.

Ship container line Hapag-Lloyd has placed an order for five vessels as it looks to bolster trade in Latin America ahead of next year's planned expansion of the Panama Canal, the world's fourth biggest player said on Monday. Workers are installing 22-storey lock gates to accommodate larger container ships through the canal, one of the world's busiest maritime routes, which plans to open on April 1 2016. Hamburg-headquartered Hapag-Lloyd, which completed a merger with Chile's Compania Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV) in December, said it had placed an order for five 10,500 TEU ships, scheduled for delivery between October 2016 and May 2017. "They will be deployed primarily on South American routes.

The credit profile of CMA CGM S.A. (CMA) is more robust than that of competitor Hapag-Lloyd AG (HL) on account of its higher profitability, bigger market share and more diverse geographic presence, says Moody's Investors Service. The agency points out that the credit profile of the French container shipping company CMA  (B2 positive) is more robust than that of German peer HL (B2 negative) on account of its superior profitability, bigger market share, and more diverse geographic presence. In the report entitled ‘Shipping: CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd: Peer comparison’, Moody's says that the French liner may have an advantage when tapping the capital markets for future fleet investments, assessments.

BERLIN, Dec 10 (Reuters) - TUI AG is optimistic it will be able to sell its stake in Hapag-Lloyd via an initial public offering of the shipping company, although the market environment is not the best at present, its chief executive said on Wednesday. Hapag-Lloyd is merging with Chilean peer Compania Sud Americana de Vapores but said last week an IPO was not a top priority. "Their motivation to float is huge," TUI AG CEO Friedrich Joussen said on Wednesday after the group reported annual results. Hapag-Lloyd has said it will consider adding mega container ships to its fleet to boost competitiveness. TUI AG owns a 22 percent stake in Hapag-Lloyd, which is classed as 'held for sale'. TUI values it in its books at 467 million euros ($578.75 million), which Joussen described as 'conservative'.

Ship Finance International Limited announced the agreement to acquire the 2003 built vessel Montemar Europa. This acquisition includes an existing time-charter to a subsidiary of Compania Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV) of Chile, the largest liner shipping company in South America. The net purchase price will be approximately $32.5m and delivery to Ship Finance is estimated to take place in late August or early September. The charter to CSAV expires in October/November 2008, and the net time-charter rate is approximately $13,500 per day. Recently, the charter market for modern 1700 TEU container vessels has strengthened significantly, and Montemar Europa will be marketed for medium to long-term contracts following the expiry of the existing charter in 2008.