Patrick 'extremely pleased as EBA begins PATRICK yesterday declared that it was extremely pleased with the manner in which its new enterprise agreement was implemented. A Patrick director, Bill Clayton, told DCN there were only minor incidents, one in Brisbane and one in Sydney and these were quickly resolved to the satisfaction of the company. Both related to safety issues which were resolved in Patrick's favor once safety authorities were called in. Mr Clayton said he was extremely pleased that the agreement was working and, in particular, that the same work was being performed with roughly half the workforce required previously.
Contship, FANAL in N American tie-up In a move which may signal an unsatisfactory end to negotiations between CP Ships and Delmas/Brierley Industries over a possible sale of ANZDL, Contship Containerlines and Far Eastern Shipping Co have announced a tie-up in the North America-Australia/New Zealand trade. Although several rounds of talks about possible co-operation have been held over the past twelve months, formalisation of the deal appears to have taken local management of both lines by surprise and details yesterday were scarce. According to a statement issued in the UK on Saturday (Australian time) on behalf of Contship and FESCo, a vessel sharing agreement has been reached, although the deal reached appears to be more of a slot charter/exchange than a VSA. "Under the arrangement, due to commence in November and subject to U.S. regulatory approval, Contship Containerlines will gain access to container slots on the fixed-day weekly service of FESCo Australia North America Line via the US West Coast," the statement said.
Holyman loss follows write-downs HOLYMAN recorded an operating loss, after tax and abnormals, of $44.747 million in the half-year to 30 June, according to the latest report on the Sydney-based transport group's fluctuating fortunes. Chairman Richard Austen said although the $44.747 million loss compared with a profit of $204,000 over the same period in 1997, the latest result followed a continuing major overhaul of operations designed to shed non-core businesses and re-focus Holyman's corporate outlook on its shipping and transport operations. He said the directors had, therefore, written down the value of non-core assets to reflect their expected earnings and market value.
Toll deal near AGGRESSIVE transport giant Toll Holdings appears set to add one of Australia's largest road express operations to its broad transport group after launching a takeover bid for Mayne Nickless's troubled Ipec and Jetsroad business. It is believed that a heads of agreement for Toll to acquire the recently merged express freight businesses was to be completed late yesterday [14/9] following a Mayne Nickless board meeting. The takeover, which continues Toll's ongoing program to grow by acquisition, was thought likely to be announced to the Australian Stock Exchange late last night ahead of today's release of the company's 1997-98 annual results in Melbourne.
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