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Cammell Laird Holdings Plc News

08 Jul 1999

Cammell Laird Is Flying High

British ship repairer Cammell Laird Holdings Plc said on Thursday it had its strongest ever order book and reported healthy results.

26 May 2000

Cammell Laird Sole Bidder For Bulgarian Yard

British ship builder and repairer Cammell Laird Holdings Plc is the sole bidder for Bulgaria's Varna Shipyard, which faces insolvency, the Ministry of Economy said. The potential buyer was expected to agree with creditors on a rehabilitation plan for the state-owned yard -- Bulgaria's biggest -- that would guarantee repayment of $77.7 million debt and resumption of shipbuilding operations. The plan had to be submitted to court for approval by June 22. If approved, the plan will halt the insolvency suit launched last year after several attempts to sell the debt-ridden shipyard fell through.

11 Jul 2000

Cammell Laird Reports Profit

British shipbuilder and repairer Cammell Laird Holdings Plc reported pre-tax profit for the year of 16.6 million pounds, an increase of 54 percent on the previous year. For the year ended April 30 it announced a final dividend of 0.5 pence per share, giving a year total of 0.75 pence, 25 percent up on last year's.

05 Oct 2000

Cammell Laird Expected To Set Bond Price

British shipbuilder Cammell Laird Holdings Plc is expected to price its high-yield bond issue at around 11.5 percent, sources familiar with the deal said on Thursday. The bond issue of 125 million euros ($109 million) of 10-year senior notes, non-callable for five years, will be launched early next week. Cammell Laird will use the proceeds to repay existing debt and part-fund acquisitions. The company has recently been expanding into the U.S. and Europe, signing a long-term deal with the French port of Marseilles and an initial agreement with U.S. firm Cascade General Inc. The bond issue, lead-managed by Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette comes after Cammell Laird raised about $20 million through a share placing in August.

03 Oct 2000

Cammell Laird Receives Major Refit Contract

Cammel Laird was awarded a major UK Ministry of Defence ship refit contract involving the mid life extension of the diesel electric powered Oceanographic Research Vessel RMAS Newton, originally built in 1976 by Scotts Shipbuilding Co, Greenock Scotland. Birkenhead based marine and engineering services company, Ocean Fleets Limited were awarded, after competition a circa $7.5 million prime contract by the UK MoD, to undertake the complete design of the ship life extension package, the development of a detailed specification, the procurement of all new equipment, the competitive tender for a shipyard to undertake the refit package and the project management of the refit itself.

28 Nov 2000

Costa Classica Pull-Out Hurts Cammell Laird

A British shipbuilding union sought urgent talks on Friday with the UK trade secretary to save 700 jobs threatened by the likely loss of a contract at Merseyside shipbuilders Cammell Laird Holdings Plc, Reuters reported. The Italian cruise liner Costa Classica, owned by the Costa Crociere unit of U.S. group Carnival Corp, had been due to arrive for refitting at the docks in northwest England but was now heading back for Genoa. "It is bad news for the Merseyside yard...but we are not purely a shipbuilding company," a Cammell Laird spokesman said. Cammell Laird's shares and bonds sank on the news the company faced potentially lengthy litigation over the contract. The stock closed down 39 percent on Nov. 24.

11 Dec 2000

Cammell Laird Works To Save Costa Contract

Cammell Laird Holdings Plc is trying to hammer out a new agreement this week to save a nearly $76 million (51 million pound) cruise liner contract and protect hundreds of jobs, the Daily Telegraph reported. Cammell was also looking for a breakthrough later this week on talks about bank financing for a 350 million pound order for two cruise liners from Luxus (U.K.), a new start-up company, the paper said. It said senior executives headed by Chief Executive John Stafford were studying fresh proposals on the cruise liner contract. They were put forward by Costa Crociere, the Italian cruise line owned by U.S. Carnival Corp., after two and a half days of talks in Genoa last week, the paper said.

25 Jan 2001

Moody's Downgrades Cammell Laird

Moody's downgraded to Caa2 from B2 the rating for the Euro 125 million senior notes of Cammell Laird Holdings plc following the announcement of its key customer Costa Crociere to terminate a high value contract with CLH to convert the cruise ship Costa Classica. CLH has rejected Costa's right to terminate the contract and has stated that it will take all necessary action to protect its commercial position. At the time of the original rating assignment, the Costa contract was already in an advanced stage and considered to be a reference contract for the flow of future orders. Cash flows from those future orders were expected to provide the means for servicing the company's debt.

28 Mar 2001

Cammell Laird: Navy Deal Saves Jobs

Cammell Laird, under threat of losing a key $500 million deal with U.S. cruise ship firm Luxus, said it had won a U.K. Navy contract, helping safeguard 150 jobs at the group. "The work will generate employment security throughout the period (82 days) for some 150 personnel," Cammell Laird Holdings Plc said in a statement. The contract to repair the Fort George ship at Tyneside, northeast England, is worth just under $7.17 million. "It's certainly nowhere near the size of the Luxus contract, but it shows the market that we're out there fighting and winning work," Cammell Laird Managing Director Dave Skentelbery said. The company's stock has fallen more than 90 percent since November…

21 Mar 2001

Moody's Downgrades Cammell Laird

Moody's Investors Service downgraded to Ca from Caa2 the rating for the Euro 125 million senior notes of Cammell Laird Holdings plc (CLH) following the company's announcement of a strategic review of its operations and financial structure which may lead to a restructuring of the notes. The following ratings were downgraded: CLH's senior implied rating to Caa2 from B3, the rating of a GBP 50 million secured revolving credit facility to Caa2 from B3, CLH's issuer rating to Ca from Caa2 and the bond rating to Ca from Caa2. The ratings remain under review for possible further downgrade. The downgrade reflects Moody's concern that CLH's financial…

17 Apr 2001

The Pressure Mounts At Cammell Laird Shipyard

Standard & Poor's today lowered its long-term corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on Cammell Laird Holdings PLC (Cammell Laird) to 'D' from double-'C' and single-'C', respectively. At the same time, the ratings were removed from CreditWatch, where they were placed with negative implications on Nov. 30, 2000. These actions follow the appointment of receivers to intermediate holding company Cammell Laird Group PLC, and the Group's failure today to make the first coupon payment of EUR7.5 million ($6.7 million) on its EUR125 million 10-year bond. Cammell Laird Group acts as the guarantor of Cammell Laird's senior unsecured notes. Cammell Laird is a small U.K. shipbuilder that generated revenues totaling GBP129 million ($185 million) in the year to Oct. 31, 2000.

27 Aug 1999

Cammell Laird Shares Shoot Up After 9:1 Split

Shares in ship repairer Cammell Laird Holdings Plc. rose early last week after a nine-for-one share split made the stock more attractive for private investors. The shares closed on Aug. 20 at $16.32 each and opened on Aug. 23 at around $16.64 following the split. "Stocks often rise on the first day of a split as they are seen as being as more affordable by private investors," said a dealer. Cammell shares have risen 68 percent since the beginning of the year, outperforming the FT All Share index by about 51 percent.

19 May 1999

Cammell Laird Makes Investment

Cammell Laird Holdings Plc hopes that its $28.43 million purchase of three ships puts it in a position to provide unrivalled ship sourcing and conversion service. The company apparently bought the vessels as part of a plan to source, design, engineer and outfit vessels and then sell or charter the ships to customers if required.