CMA CGM Posts Higher Q1 Profits
Container shipping line CMA CGM posted higher first-quarter profits, helped by a turnaround at recently acquired NOL, and gave an upbeat assessment for the current quarter in another sign that the shipping industry is emerging from a slump. The French-based group reported on Friday a first-quarter net profit, including Singapore-based NOL which it consolidated in June last year, of $86 million compared with a $100 million loss in the same period of 2016. This was also above the…
CMA CGM Stays in Red, Pays Back NOL Takeover Loan
CMA CGM, the world's third-largest container shipping company, posted on Friday another net loss in the third quarter as freight rates remained weak and it integrated Singapore-based NOL, its biggest-ever acquisition. The sector was showing the "first signs of stabilisation" as operators adjusted capacity but freight rates remained historically low, CMA CGM said on Friday. The French-based company's net loss including NOL was $268 million, compared with a $51 million net profit in the third quarter of 2015. Excluding NOL, the net loss was $202 million.
Jaccar to Launch Bourbon Buyout on May 20
Jaccar Holdings, the main shareholder of Bourbon, said on Monday it will launch an offer to buy the French ship supplier on May 20. Bourbon said in March that the offer, which is valid until June 23, would be conditional upon Jaccar securing 50.1 percent of the capital, as well as bank financing. It said at that time that the proposed bid was 24 euros per share. Bourbon shares closed at 23.83 euros on Friday. Jaccar currently owns 26 percent of the group, according to Bourbon's website. Reporting by Maya Nikolaeva and Gilles Guillaume
GE In Talks To Buy Alstom's Power Arm
U.S. industrial conglomerate General Electric Co is in advanced talks to buy the global power division of struggling French engineering group Alstom SA for about $13 billion, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. Sources said a deal was backed by Alstom's main shareholder, French conglomerate Bouygues with 29 percent, and could be announced in the coming days after an Alstom board meeting on Friday afternoon. The board was due to meet again on Sunday to discuss the transaction, French daily Le Figaro said. "Talks are going ahead swiftly, the deal's structure is defined and everything is almost ready," one of the sources said. Alstom Chief Executive Patrick Kron confirmed to union representatives there were talks about an "industrial deal," but did not name GE.
