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.
Cheap Seats Hurt Princess Cruises
Cheaper tickets for Caribbean cruises filled the decks but hit the finances of P&O Princess Cruises Plc last year when profits fell 11 percent. Most of the damage was reported in the fourth quarter, when operating profits fell more than 70 percent to $15.9 million due to high fuel prices, choppy exchange rates and the suspension of cruise calls to ports in Israel because of Middle East violence. And with prices of cruises booked so far through next autumn still lower than last year, trading conditions at the company -- which cast off from British shipping giant P&O last year -- are likely to remain tough in 2001. "We are already fully booked in the first quarter. But when you look further forward, there is still a competitive price situation in the U.S.
NCL Recommends Joint Bid To Shareholders
NCL Holding abandoned hope of any new takeover bids and recommended that shareholders accept an offer by Malaysia's Star Cruises and U.S. Carnival Corp. Star and Carnival, which gave up their rivalry to join forces to make a 35 crowns per share offer valuing NCL stock at about $1.1 billion, said they had a controlling stake of 53.8 percent after buying 4.3 percent on Thursday. "The board recommends sale," the NCL board said in a brief statement to the Oslo bourse, marking the end of an often bitter struggle to encourage a further round of bids. Shares in NCL, the world's fourth largest cruise group, closed at 35 crowns on the Oslo bourse, down 0.2 from Wednesday, as the last shred of hope for a new takeover battle vanished.
