Vosper Thorneycroft News

French defense group Thomson-CSF plans to bid for British warship builder Vosper Thorneycroft, which in turn is preparing a bid for U.K.-based Hunting Engineering, according to press reports. Officials of Thomson-CSF, which recently acquired defense electronics company Racal Plc, said the company could bid up to 15 pounds ($22.46) per share, valuing Vosper at $754.6 million. The takeover bid, which is reportedly welcomed by the British government, would ensure Thomson-CSF a slice of a multi-billion dollar contract to build new frigates for Britain's Royal Navy. Vosper was reportedly mulling a bid for the defense arm of British-based Hunting Engineering, a maker of weapons integration systems for Apache attack helicopters along with engineering business in the oil industry.

The UK government threw a one billion pound lifeline to Britain's shipbuilding industry, awarding contracts for three new warships to defense groups BAE Systems Plc and Vosper Thorneycroft Holdings Plc. BAE was named as prime contractor to construct two of the first batch of a dozen state-of-the-art Type 45 Anti Air Warfare Destroyers. Vosper will build the third warship at its shipyards in Portsmouth. Both companies will be involved in the design, and construction is expected to start in 2002. The Ministry of Defence is expected to order a total of 12 Type 45 destroyers, due to come into service between 2007 and 2014. The MoD said the rest of the orders should be placed in 2004.

Vosper Thorneycroft has won a $205 million British government contract to build two new specialist warships, safeguarding 800 jobs at the Appledore Shipyard. The multi-role Hydrographic and Oceanographic survey vessels are due to enter service in 2002 and 2003. The new 3,500 ton ships will be equipped with the latest survey systems, including multi-beam echo sounders and modern side sonars as well as advanced navigation and communications systems.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency has taken delivery of four new boats from Vosper Thorneycroft Halmatic for use around the United Kingdom coastline. Delivered so are a general purpose support vessel to the Isles of Scilly and three Artic 22 rigid inflatable boats (RIB) to Holyhead, Hull and St Andrews in Scotland. The support vessel can reach speeds of more than 30 knots, and will be used to reach the smaller harbors and inlets in the Isles of Scilly and in Cornwall. The Artic 22 rigid inflatable boats can also reach speeds of more than 30 knots due to its twin 90hp outboard engines. These vessels are not designed at rescue vessels but will be used on a variety of tasks on a regional basis.

Britain's Vosper Thorneycroft Plc, posting a two percent rise in year profits, said its diversification strategy was bearing fruit, with 55 percent of operating profits coming from non-shipbuilding activities. "With a strong order book and significant prospects across all divisions, we are well placed to continue to benefit from this strategy," Chief Executive Martin Jay said. The group reported pre-tax profits before goodwill of 36.3 million pounds ($51.49 million) in the year to March 31, 2001, up from 35.5 million last year and just above market forecasts. Shares in the group, which have outperformed the aerospace and defense sector by 22 percent in the past 12 months, were unchanged at 1,157-1/2 pence -- valuing it around 389 million pounds.