Page 37: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (February 2000)

Strong Finish To A Strong Year In Oslo

A December rally on the Oslo Stock

Exchange gave maritime shares an extra glitter and ensured a strong finish to an already strong year. Shipping and off- shore shares performed marginally bet- ter than shares on the general Oslo mar- ket during 1999, rallying 8.6 percent in

December to finish the year a solid 48.0 percent above last year's close.

The All Share Index, which includes all shares on the Main List, was up 45.5 percent for the year, and shaking off the dismal record in 1998 when the index dropped 26.7 percent. The All Share

Index is still 4.4 percent away from its all time high, while the Shipping Index is 24.4 percent below its top mark.

The world's largest cruise operator,

Carnival Corporation, announced a bid for NCL Holding (NCL) on December 1 creating an immediate rise in the NCL share. NCL management did not approve of the offer price of $4 per share. Later in December Asian operator

Star Cruises announced it had acquired more than 40 percent of the shares in

NCL and so was obliged to make a mandatory offering to the remaining shareholders. The offer is reported to be $4.40 per share and NCL ended the year at 34.60 - up 52.4 percent for the month.

For the year as a whole Frontline (FRO), I.M. Skaugen (SKA), Jinhui

Shipping (JIN) and Stolt-Nielsen B (SNIB) all more than doubled their value, while at the other end Loki (LOI) and MIF (MIF) on low volumes more or less halved their share prices during 1999.

Among offshore shares Havila Supply (HAV) topped an impressive December

Winners this month

Shipping List Change

NCL Holding Main + 52.4%

Belships Co. Main + 33.3%

Frontline Main + 32.3%

Stolt-Nielsen B Main + 24.2%

Bergesen A Main + 22.7%

Offshore List Change

Havila Supply SMB + 50.0%

Navis SMB + 28.3%

Det Sondenfjeldske Main + 20.5%

Ocean Rig SMB + 18.2%

Ugland Nordic Sh. Main + 16.7%

Losers this month

Shipping List Change

Ivar Holding Main - 10.0%

Royal Caribbean Cruises Main - 9.0%

Waterfront Shipping Main - 7.0%

Wilh. Wilhelmsen A Main - 3.3%

I.M. Skaugen Main - 1.8%

Offshore List Change

Nortrans Offshore SMB - 12.8%

Stolt Comex Seaway Main - 3.1%

Br0vig Offshore SMB -2.1%

Stolt Comex Seaway A Main + 2.3%

ProSafe Main + 3.1% ranking with a rise of 50 percent. Other high performing shares in the month were Det Sondenfjeldske (SFJ), Ocean

Rig (OCR) and Ugland Nordic Ship- ping. These four shares, however, also occupy the first four spots on the losers' list for 1999 as a whole.

Navis (NIS) ended in second place in

December as the share rose 28.3 per- cent, while Awilco B (AWSB) snatched fifth place on the all year losers' list just in front of its A-class share (AWS).

TGS Nopec (TGS) fell almost 60 per- cent during 1998. but came back strong- ly last year with an increase in its share price of 183.1 percent. Stolt Comex

Seaway (SCS) and Stolt Comex Seaway

A (SCSA) were closest; both were up about 95 percent. simply the less expensive propulsion system

Passenger ships, ferries and cruise liners are connecting ports, coasts and continents by timetables which are accurate right down to the last minute.

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February, 2000

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Circle 313 on Reader Service Card 37