for sale

[neil46]

UK ports and ferries operator P&O has received approaches on a potential takeover, its board said on Sunday.
“P&O confirms that it has received a preliminary contact… which may or may not lead to an offer,” the firm said.

The Sunday Times says the interested party is Dubai Ports World, owned by the United Arab Emirates government, which could bid £3bn ($5.35bn).

It said Dubai Ports has hired Deutsche Bank to advise it on a bid, and a first meeting with P&O could take place soon.

The Gulf firm manages ports in Asia, Europe, Australia and South America, and P&O owns ports around the world.

Last week P&O, which has been slimming down its ferries and property arms, cut back earnings expectations for its key ports business.

In the past year there has been strong growth at its Asian ports, but that has been offset by more sluggish economic conditions in the UK and Australia.

Any developments will be watched closely by others in the market, such as Singaporean state investment firm Temasek and Danish shipping group A.

Job losses

In August P&O, full name Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation, unveiled a sharp dip in first-half earnings. Pre-tax profits were £30.6m, down from £53.4m at the same time in 2004.

P&O has been selling properties and slashing jobs at its loss-making ferry operations as part of a shake-up.

The company was forced to rethink its strategy as budget airlines and the Channel Tunnel eroded its market share.

Over 1,000 job losses were announced in 2004 and P&O has since cut back on routes.

The final P&O voyage from Portsmouth to Le Havre set sail at the end of September, with the loss of 350 jobs.

P&O had also been conducting a property disposal programme - in June, the company offloaded its 25% stake in Dutch shipping company P&O Nedlloyd, leading to a £187.9m one-off gain.

[spardo]

neil46:
The final P&O voyage from Portsmouth to Le Havre set sail at the end of September, with the loss of 350 jobs.

My God! You mean they sank it? .

Salut, David.

[truckyboy]

There has been a slow demise of the ferry operators…especially out of the kent ports. Remember Townsend Thoresen…Sally Line…etc…the building of the Chunnel has had an effect on the ferries operations. I wonder what will happen if the ferries decided it wasnt in their interest to compete for these routes…that would leave the french controlling the entry and exit routes to europe from kent. The chunnel is mostly owned by the french and of course Sea France is from across the pond. Their profits would soar…and maybe put Norfolk Line out of business, which is a new customer to the kent crossings.
Should have built a road tunnel in the first place…and let us cross for free…

Robinhood…i enjoyed reading your story of your seafaring days…yes i bet the water was cold…should have worn an overcoat…

[bren]

This is just another bit of P&O being sold off bit by bit.

They went into partnership with Stena on the channel ferries.
They went in partnership with Nedlloyd with the containers. Now just totally sold out to Maersk.
They went into partnership with Carnival with the cruise ships.

They sold off all their bulk carriers and tank ships.
They sold P&O distribution and Roadways to Wincanton.

Lord Sterling is stripping the company to nothing.
There won’t be a P&O in another few years.

[saratoga]

Spardo:

neil46:
The final P&O voyage from Portsmouth to Le Havre set sail at the end of September, with the loss of 350 jobs.

My God! You mean they sank it? .

Salut, David.

Well, you know, they were gonna tidy the area up and you can’t have all these messy white big things lying around dirtying the place up can you

[jj72]

truckyboy:
put Norfolk Line out of business

they’d have to want to quit - their parent company a.p.moeller is probably worth more than the french government

[dennisw1]

jj72:

truckyboy:
put Norfolk Line out of business

they’d have to want to quit - their parent company a.p.moeller is probably worth more than the french government

Yeah if you look on the norfolk line signage it all has a Maersk logo in the corner, who’re one of the worlds largest fright lines.

Remember Townsend Thoresen…Sally Line…etc…

Townsend Thoreson Sank (Herald of Free Enterprise), Sally Line kept catching fire.(various ships)
There is now another operator from Ramsgate using the Heralds Sister ship.

Basically the thatcherites sold off our national ferry operator (sealink) to a private firm who then sold it to Stena, Stena then merged with P&O Ferries at Which point SNCF decided to split their shares in Sealink to form Seafrance. Another one of our nationalised industries flushed down the pan really. No point blaming the French for managing their Nationalised Industries properly.

The chunnel is mostly owned by the french

Well it’s actually ‘owned’ by various banks split roughly half and half anglo/french although there are also other international banks with an interest in it. Eurotunnel group its self is Pretty much French controlled though. They dont actually own the tunnel though they just have a concession to operate it for 60 years or something.