Fisher (James) & Sons PLC
28 June 2001
28 June 2001
Sale of Assets at Newhaven Completes James Fisher's Withdrawal from Port
Operations
James Fisher and Sons Public Limited Company, the ship owning and management
group based in Barrow-in-Furness, has completed the sale to Newhaven Port and
Properties Limited of its assets at Newhaven. As a result it has also been
released from leases held with Newhaven Port and Properties.
The move is welcomed by David Cobb, executive chairman of James Fisher.
Commenting, Mr Cobb says: 'It has been our declared policy for some years to
withdraw entirely from direct port operations. We withdrew from Heysham in
1998 and the withdrawal on equitable terms from Newhaven means that from now
on James Fisher will no longer have any operational involvement at Newhaven.
This transaction therefore marks the final achievement of our goal.'
The British company ceased cargo handling at Newhaven in the first half of
1999 and made provision of £2.8m for port closure costs in its 1998 accounts.
As part of the new arrangements, James Fisher will take a 19.9 per cent
shareholding in SEML Syndicate Mixte de Promotion de l'Activite Transmanche
which has purchased Newhaven Port and Properties from Ferry and Port Holding
Limited, a subsidiary of Sea Containers.
Mr Cobb adds: 'We are very pleased with the outcome. It leaves us free to
concentrate on our ship owning, operation and management services. Our exit
from Newhaven and recent increased commitment to the ownership and long term
charter of state of the art cable laying vessels, coupled with our traditional
strength in the clean product tanker market and specialist offshore
engineering services to the oil and gas markets, all point us in the right
direction.'
Press Enquiries:
David B Cobb CBE
Executive Chairman
James Fisher and Sons Public Limited Company
Tel: 020 7338 5808
Issued on behalf of James Fisher and Sons Public Limited Company by Tavistock
Communications Limited (contact Keith Payne, tel: 020 7600 2288)