Mr Grimaldi doesn’t exclude the possibility of his further expansion in Greece, and if Attica would be for sale he would be ready to look at the opportunity that arises.
New Horizons For Attica Group, With The Acquisition Of Hellenic Seaways
Last week Ferry Shipping News paid a visit to Athens and despite being extremely busy, the CEO of Attica Group Mr Spiros Paschalis (photo) made time early in the morning to give us an update on the developments of Attica Group.
Attica’s Annual Report Follows The Green Light For The HSW Take Over
Shortly after the authorisation to get full control over Hellenic Seaways (see below), Attica published its full year annual report.
In spite of increased traffic volumes the group result was affected by the increased bunker prices.
- Consolidated revenue of EUR 271.54m (EUR 268.61m)
- EBITDA EUR 50.36m (EUR 70.03m)
- Profits after tax EUR 1.25m (EUR 20.25m)
- Increased traffic volumes in all revenue categories: passengers +2.2%, cars +5.7% and freight units +3.5%
- Number of sailings +3.3%
The Attica Group has received a gold and two silver honors at the Tourism Awards 2018, held recently in Athens.
These Tourism Awards rewarded the best practices and initiatives of Greek companies and organizations in the tourism sector.
Attica Group won a:
- Gold award for its corporate social responsibility program titled “With you as our destination.
- Silver award for @sea, the first onboard infotainment platform developed in the Greek shipping industry, accessible by any device – laptop, smartphone or tablet – offering information and entertainment.
- Silver award for the SEASMILES reward program.
In its key financial figures for the nine-month period 2017, Attica Group presents the following results:
- Revenues: EUR 215.46 million (status quo)
- EBITDA: EUR 47.75 million (EUR 62.35 million)
- Profit after tax: EUR 4.68 million (EUR 26.50 million)
The lower profit is mainly related to the significantly increased fuel oil price, which is a pity after better results on the transportation side:
- Sailings +1.1%
- Passengers +0.5%
- Private vehicles +3.7%
- Cargo units +1.8%
Approvals from the competent authorities are pending in order for the Company to complete the acquisition of a total 98.83% shareholding stake in Hellenic Seaways Maritime S.A.
The fight for the ownership of Hellenic Seaways (HSW) is over. Attica Holdings and Grimaldi Group have reached an agreement on October 26, where HSW will be almost fully owned by Attica
- Minoan Lines, a Grimaldi Group company, will transfer all its HSW shares (48.53%) to Attica Holdings, for €78.5 million. The latter already became the majority shareholder in August when acquiring 50.3% of the share capital from Piraeus Bank.
- Attica Ferries Maritime Company will sell ro-pax SUPERFAST XII to a company within the Grimaldi Group. Price tag: €74,5 million. The SUPERFAST XII is currently operating on the long route Piraeus – Patmos – Leros – Kalymnos – Kos – Rhodes & Syros – Katapola, for the Blue Star Ferries brand.
- Fast (car) ferry HIGHSPEED 7 will change hands from Hellenic Seaways to Minoan Lines for €25 million. HIGHSPEED 7 operates from Heraklion to Santorini
- The completion of the deal will need to be approved by the Greek competition authority.
This deal is the most logic solution for the control over HSW, where two competitors basically both owned half of the company, with Attica at a small advantage. There was only one way: either Grimaldi, or Attica had to become the sole owner.
Now that Attica fully controls HSW, it will certainly create a high degree of rationalization on the Greek domestic routes. Attica/HSW will have the Aegean, and Grimaldi Group will –via Minoan Lines– have the Crete routes to Piraeus and Santorini / Cyclades. Grimaldi gets money to invest, and gets two modern ships.
Attica/HSW will now be able to reshuffle ships and routes for a better utilization. This economy of scale will be something attractive for investors. The domestic horizon will change, for sure.
It is noteworthy to remember that Attica also has a cooperation with ANEK Lines, on Crete (Heraklion and Chania, the headquarters of ANEK) and in the Adriatic. Could this cooperation develop further? Time will tell.
Part of the deal is the sale of the SUPERFAST XII to a company within the Grimaldi Group. This ro-pax was built in 2002 bij Flender Werft, Lübeck.
Photos © Mike Louagie
On Friday September 29, Attica Group (Blue Star Ferries, Superfast Ferries) published its half-year results.
- • During H1, Attica Group saw an increase in traffic volumes in all categories: Passengers +5.4% / Cars +9.9% / Freight +2.3% / Sailings +4.3%
- Adriatic routes (Patras-Igoumenitsa-Ancona and Patras-Igoumenitsa-Bari (in joint service with ANEK): Passengers +16.8% / Cars +14.2% / Freight +3.5% / Sailings + 2.1%
- Greek domestic routes (Piraeus-Cyclades, Piraeus-Dodekanese, Piraeus- Crete (with ANEK), and Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene): Passengers +4.3% / Cars +9.2% / Freight +1.7% / Sailings +4.8%
- Consolidated Revenue: EUR 112.04m (EUR 109.63m)
- EBITDA: EUR 7.07m (EUR 21.66m)
- Consolidated losses after tax: EUR 22.26m (EUR 2.20m)
- Increase of bunker prices influenced Group’s results by over EUR 15m.
Other highlights:
- On August 11, Attica acquired 50.30% of the share capital of Hellenic Seaways Maritime S.A.
- On August 30, BLUE STAR PATMOS suffered grounding on shallow waters while approaching Ios. The impact is estimated to be limited due to the upcoming low season. The incident is fully covered by the existing insurance, and the vessel is actually being repaired at Elefsina shipyard.
Photo © Mike Louagie
Grimaldi Group’s boss Emanuele Grimaldi says the acquisition of 50.3% of Hellenic Seaways (HSW) by Attica Group, is against the European competition rules. A complaint will be filed to the ‘Directorate General Competition’ of the European Commission.
Grimaldi Group, already owning 48.53% of HSW was hoping to become the majority shareholder. Until Attica made an agreement with Piraeus Bank (40.5%) and some smaller shareholders, in August. With this acquisition Attica, already operating Blue Star Ferries and Superfast Ferries, is doubling its fleet. Grimaldi, who also controls Minoan Lines (95%), sees this as a threat to fair competition.
