Hurtigruten ASA - news and comments

[Ralf__]

We will continue here the old thread:

Hurtigruten ASA 2007 /-8 accounts: Disappointing results

former posts can be seen here:

http://captainsvoyage.7.forumer.com/...=asc&start=144

[pakarang]

Thank you Ralf for continuing this important post....

Recommend all that haven't done so yet, to go back to the old forum to see what already has been written. There have been many changes in HRG the past months.

Hope to see a lot of new and maybe even more positive news in the time to come.

[Ralf__]

Just an interesting aspect of the new sales stategy:

"Booking and billing with a joint
system solution for the entire organisation will
make it possible to set up a booking centre in low-
cost countries at a lower cost."

Will be interesting to see how someone in India (f.e.) is managing the really interesting booking requests like:

...Bergen to Bergen in a double outside cabin with breakfast and lunch, with stops in Tromso and Stokmarknes, only using old ships...

Ambitious plans!

[Sterkoder]

It will not be India....., but nothing better (I think), it's already decided to move the booking dept. to Tallin.....

http://http://e24.no/boers-og-finans/article2792003.ece

[Sterkoder]

And did you all know that the norwegian government now let Hurtigruten AS cut places to dock in the wintertime...?

Well, here's the link from the norwegian broadcasting corporation, NRK:

http://http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/dis...land/1.6366234

I'm afraid the cut will be done where there are few passengers, and I take a chanse to say Finnmark...
As another forumist already said on another forum: It's crazy to think about that it's people around who can decide such things and at the same time mean that there are good alternatives to travel for the coastal people...., in Finnmark....

[Ralf__]

News from www.newsweb.no:

Hard stuff to read, but interesting!

22.12.2008 08:45:05
NOK 314 million conditional private placement and ex date for proposed subsequent offering

Hurtigruten ASA (`Hurtigruten` or the `Company`)
has received binding subscription agreements for a
private placement of a total of 313,850,000] new
shares at a subscription price of NOK 1.00 per
share (the `Private Placement`), which will result
in gross proceeds of NOK 313,850,000] assuming that
the conditions for the Private Placement described
below are satisfied.

The purpose of the Private Placement is to secure
the liquidity position of the Company through the
turn-around period. The largest shareholders of the
Company subscribed for NOK 287 million in the
Private Placement, while the largest bondholders of
the Company subscribed for NOK 27 million.

As previously announced, the Private Placement is
one of the elements of the total financial
restructuring solution the Company is working on
and completion of the Private Placement is hence
conditional upon satisfaction of the following
conditions:

(i) that a short term credit facility of NOK
300 million is provided to the Company by DnB NOR
Bank ASA and Nordea Bank Norge ASA on the terms and
conditions to be agreed between DnB NOR Bank ASA,
Nordea Bank Norge ASA and the Company(the `Bridge
Loan`) and that the due date for repayment of any
amount drawn under the Bridge Loan at the earliest
is set to 31 December 2009,

(ii) that an agreement is entered into between
the Company and the Company`s financing banks,
represented by Nordea Bank Norge ASA as Agent
(the `Banks`), whereby payment of the instalments
payable in the period from March 2009 until
December 2011 under the loan agreement dated 22
September 2006 in the original amount of NOK 3.3
billion are deferred and made payable on a pro rata
basis together with the then remaining instalments
from and including the instalment due in March 2012
on the terms and conditions to be agreed between
the Banks and the Company, provided however, that
the amended loan agreement also will contain a cash
sweep-provision whereby the Company on an annual
basis from the expiry of the first quarter 2010
shall undertake to use any cash in excess of NOK
500 million at the expiry of the first quarter each
year to make extraordinary prepayments of the loan.
Any payments made under the cash sweep arrangement
shall not reduce the loan facility amount that can
be drawn under the loan agreement and shall further
reduce the instalments payable from March 2012
onwards to the extent that the Company has not re-
borrowed any funds pre-paid under the cash sweep,

(iii) that the repayment date for the NOK 150
million convertible bond loan originally
named `7.00 per cent Troms Fylkes Dampskibsselskap
ASA Senior Unsecured Convertible Bond Issue
2004/2009` (the `Convertible Loan`) is extended
with at least 36 months and the conversion price re-
set according to the applicable provisions of the
loan agreement and further amended so that no
instalments are payable during the term of the
Convertible Loan and that the Convertible Loan is
interest free until 31 December 2009 after which it
shall carry interest at the rate of 7% per annum,
such interest to be payable at the repayment date
of the Convertible Loan,

(iv) that the instalments payable by the limited
partnerships (in Norwegian kommandittselskaper)
named Kystruten KS and KirBerg Shipping KS under
their bareboat charter hires in respect of MS
Richard With and MS Nordlys respectively at the
latest on 30 January 2009 are deferred for the same
period as for the loan agreement described in item
(ii) above and

(v) that the Board of Directors and the
Extraordinary General Meeting of the Company
approves the necessary resolutions to implement the
Private Placement and issue the New Shares,
including but not limited to a reduction of the par
value of the shares to NOK 1 per share.

It is a condition that the agreements referred to
above have been entered into prior to completion of
the Private Placement, provided however, that the
effectiveness of the agreements may be subject to
completion of the Private Placement. No guarantees
or assurances can be made that the conditions will
be satisfied. In the event that the conditions are
not satisfied within 28 February 2009, the Private
Placement will be cancelled. The subscriptions made
by DnB NOR Bank ASA and Sparebanken Nord-Norge in
the Private Placement do not represent an
undertaking to approve the amendment of the loan
agreement referred to in item (ii) above in their
capacity as one of the Banks nor for DnB NOR Bank
ASA and obligation to provide the Bridge Loan
referred to in item (i) above.

As an alternative to maintaining their interests in
the Convertible Loan on the revised terms described
above, bondholders will be given the right of
redemption/repurchase of bonds held in the
Convertible Loan, by subscribing for new shares at
the proposed subscription price in the Private
Placement for an amount equal to 50% of the nominal
amount of the bonds held by the relevant bondholder
and the remaining 50% in a new bond loan to be
issued by the Company (the `New Bond Loan`) against
contribution in cash. The New Bond Loan will have a
term of 36 months from disbursement and will fall
due in one amount with no instalments payable
during the term of the loan, will carry interest at
the rate of 10% per annum payable annually in
arrears, will have no conversion right and
otherwise be based on the standard agreement of the
Norwegian Trustee. Bondholders electing this option
will be given a right of redemption or re-purchase
by the Company of its bonds in the Convertible Loan
within 30 days after the new shares and the New
Bond Loan have been issued. The bondholders will be
given the right to elect to maintain parts of its
holding in the Convertible Loan (as amended) and
subscribe for new shares and the New Bond Loan for
an amount equal to its remaining part of the
Convertible Loan, provided however, that the amount
subscribed shall be split 50/50 between New Shares
and the New Bond Loan and that the right of
redemption/repurchase of bonds held in the
Convertible Loan will be limited to the subscribed
amount.

Following the completion of the Private Placement,
the number of shares outstanding in Hurtigruten
will be 341,592,130 shares, each with a nominal
value of NOK 1.00.

The shares will not be issued or be tradable until
the share capital increase has been resolved by an
Extraordinary General Meeting in Hurtigruten ASA
expected to be held ultimo January 2009
(the `EGM`), the shares has been fully paid, the
share capital increase has been registered in the
Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises and the
VPS and a listing prospectus for the listing of the
new shares on Oslo Børs has been approved and
published.

The Board of Directors in Hurtigruten will also
propose to the EGM to conduct a subsequent repair
offering of approximately up to 125,000,000 shares
with a subscription price of NOK 1.00 per share
directed to shareholders of the Company who were
not invited to participate in the Private
Placement. As a consequence, the share in
Hurtigruten will trade exclusive of the right to
participate in the potential subsequent offering
from and including 23 December 2008

Holders of the Convertible Loan not being invited
to subscribe for new shares and the New Bond Loan
as described above in connection with the Private
Placement will be provided with the same offer as
the bondholders having subscribed in the Private
Placement and this could therefore also result in
additional new shares being issued.

The Private Placement was managed by Carnegie ASA
and Pareto Securities AS.

The Company will book impairment losses of around
NOK 270 million and make provisions of NOK 30
million for implementation of the cost reduction
program of in the 4th quarter 2008. The investor
presentation used in connection with the Private
Placement is attached hereto.

[Ralf__]

And did you all know that the norwegian government now let Hurtigruten AS cut places to dock in the wintertime...?

Dear Sterkoder, my Norwegian is very, very poor so i did just understand, that maybe some ports may be served only once per tour during winter from 2010 on and this has to be discussed in Oslo parliament in summer...?

So i am not sure... did they decide or do they still discuss?

Basically they are not aware that all the different ports are one outstanding aspect which makes Hurtigruten so different from other cruise tours. Cutting this off means to be more comparable and forces to minimize prices...
Is this really the right way??

[Ralf__]

Continuing my capacity thoughts from the "old-schedule-threads" here...to avoid being OFF-TOPIC.

Summer capacity:
Without Nordnorge Hurtigruten is offering with 11 ships a capacity of 440.000 per quarter for the two crowded quarters 2 and 3/2009.
Compared with the 2008 needs (334.000 and 409.000), this is an occupancy rate of 84,43%.

Winter capacity: Without Nordlys there is with 10 ships a capacity of 398.000 per quarter for quarter 1/2009 and 4/2009.
Compared with the 2008 needs (148.000 and 148.000), this is an occupancy rate of 37,19%.

Overall this means an occupancy rate of 61,99%. This means, the result can not be sufficient. Therefore it should at least have 70%, better 75%.

[Ralf__]

Proposal for a solution of the winter dilemma:

Get back Kong Olav, old Polarlys (Caribbean Mercy, Hope II) and old Ragnvald Jarl (Sjoekurs) into the fleet in Q1 and Q4. Send Finnmarken, Trollfjord and Midnatsol on special Winter Cruises.

The capacities would be reduced from 398.000 to 264.000.
The occupancy rate would rise from 37,19% to 56,06%.
Overall occupancy will rise from 61,99% to 70,25%.
I would expect an increase if there will be special marketing for the old fleet.

There are a lot of possibilities for a winter program for the big ships:
* Transatlantic Cruise to New York
* European cities in winter: Oslo, Kobenhavn, Rostock, Kiel, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Antwerpen, London, Olso
* Northern light cruises: Bergen, Shetlands, Faroer, Iceland, Bergen
* Scotland and Ireland (Whiskey tour)
* Portugal(Lisboa) , Canaric Islands, Casablanca and Tanger
* Western Mediterrenian Sea: Barcelona, Marseille, Ajaccio, Napoli, Messina, Venezia, Tunis
* Eastern Mediterrenian and Black Sea: Piräus, Istanbul, Varna, Constanta, Odessa, Sevastopol, Soci, Trabzon, Samsun, Cyprus, Alessandria
...all tours combined with a well prepared culture program...


Anyone else with ideas??

[pakarang]

A lot of cancellations these days, with ships out of service for several reasons: some planning may be required if you are going traveling by sea:

[Ralf__]

Latest news from Oslo Börs:

09.01.2009 14:51:20
Norwegian government appeal tax case against Hurtigruten ASA

The Norwegian Government has decided to appeal on a
point of law the judgment in the lawsuit in
Hålogaland Court of Appeals that the former Ofotens
og Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab ASA (OVDS), now
Hurtigruten ASA, filed against the Norwegian
government in 2006 concerning taxes on profits from
the sale of Nor-Cargo ASA shares. The judgment
upholds Hurtigruten ASA`s claim that the profits
from the sale of the shares are not taxable under
the tax exemption model.

The Supreme Court will decide during the winter if
the appeal will be taken into trial in the Supreme
Court.

Hurtigruten makes reference to the notice to the
stock exchange December 10th 2008.

[Ralf__]

Yesterday's news from Oslo:

13.01.2009 14:56:17
Convertible Bond holders approves refinancing plan

In a stock exchange notice of 22 December 2008,
Hurtigruten ASA informed the market that it had
received subscriptions for a total of 313 850 000
shares at subscription price of NOK 1 per share in
a private placement. The private placement will
give a total proceeds to the company of minimum NOK
313 850 000 provided that terms and condition
described in the stock exchange notice of 22
December 2008 are approved.

One of the conditions for the private placement was
approval of the required changes in the loan
agreement for the NOK 150 million convertible bond
loan issued 8 June 2004, as described in the stock
exchange notice of 22 December 2008. Today 13
January 2009, a Bondholders meeting was held
pursuant to the summon of 5 January 2009, regarding
Amendment of Loan Agreement, where the suggested
amendments were approved by 99.67% of the quorum.
The private placement and the comprehensive
proposed refinancing plan described in Hurtigrutens
stock exchange notice of 22 December 2008 is
subject to the outstanding conditions described in
the stock exchange notice of 22 December 2008,
including approval from the banks and KirBerg
Shipping KS/Kystruten KS, in addition to approval
at the Extraordinary General Meeting scheduled for
ultimo January 2009. Further reference is made to
the attached notice from the bondholders trustee,
Norsk Tillitsmann.

[Ralf__]

Latest news from www.newsweb.no

16.01.2009 12:49:19
Hurtigruten ASA

Update on the financial restructuring

Reference is made to the stock exchange notice
dated 22 December 2008 regarding the subscription
agreements received in the conditional private
placement in Hurtigruten ASA (`Hurtigruten` or
the `Company`) totalling NOK 313,850,000 in gross
proceeds (the `Private Placement`).

As stated in the stock exchange notice, the Private
Placement is conditional upon satisfaction of a
number of conditions, including obtaining creditor
consents for the ongoing financial restructuring of
the Company.

Hurtigruten has not yet been able to obtain all the
creditor consents required to satisfy the
conditions for the Private Placement. Although
discussions are continuing, the extraordinary
general meeting expected to be held ultimo January
2009 will therefore be postponed until primo
February 2009. The negotiations with the creditors
are challenging and no guarantees or assurances can
be made that all of the conditions for the Private
Placement will be satisfied.

[Guest]

As one hardly literate in finance--does this mean that the Norwegian government is trying to get out of the business of running a seafaring/seaferry company? I've always interpreted "Private Placement" as something of the reverse of an "Initial Public Offering"...

[Ralf__]

I try to say it in very easy words, i am also not a specialist in finance monopoly...

As i understood the news before, they are looking for a way to generate additional money. And for now it seems that this is not as easy as they hoped...