Grimaldi News 47 - Web Agency

eDitorial
Contents
3 Motorways of the Sea
stronger than the crisis
4 Port of Wallhamn
is fully owned
Finnlines in Motorways
of the Sea push
5 Backing the German
Industry
6 Grande Benin upgrades
West African trades
Portugal to Angola
trade developments
South America Africa Express
Service capacity up 80%
Casablanca call for
North Europe/South
America Service
8 Ford Transit Connects
made in Turkey
Grimaldi is 2008 GM
Supplier of the Year
9 News
10 Agent List
12 Schedules
- Mediterranean Short Sea Network
- Finnlines (Baltic & North Sea)
- Atlantic Network
- ACL
- Euro Med Network
G r imaldi
NE WS
Direttore Responsabile / Editor in Chief
Giovanni Paci
Progetto grafico /Graphic design
Marco Di Lorenzo
Pubblicazione trimestrale
Quarterly publication
Reg. Trib. Napoli n. 5150 del 26/9/2000
Stampa / Print: ROSSI srl - Nola (Napoli)
Circulation 38,000 copies
Printed on 29 June 2009
GRIMALDI GROUP
Via Marchese Campodisola, 13
GNE WS80133 NAPOLI (Italy)
Grimaldi News can be seen on
line on www.grimaldi.napoli.it
Firm Hand,
Smooth Sailing
Despite the difficult general economic environment, throughout
the first half of the year the Group has continued to perform at a
very satisfactory level either in terms of volumes, cash generation
and bottom line. The joint effect of the newly launched ro-ro services for
both passengers and freight and of the continuous fine tuning of the existing
services to better meet the market demand, have in fact produced
a growth for both the Motorways of the Sea Network in the Mediterranean
and the whole deep-sea Atlantic Network connecting North Europe
with North America, West Africa and South America. At the same time,
the diversification towards other types of rolling cargo has helped the
EuroMed service to positively balance the slump in the volume of new
cars transported linked to the effect of the world economic crisis. All of
this, with the addition of a strong commercial drive based on the higher
quality standards of the services offered to customers, has produced
strong mid-year results. Not surprisingly then, the Group’s balance sheet
strength has allowed to continue to invest in the core business. The entire
Swedish port of Wallhamn was taken over in June and the existing strong
newbuilding programme has been confirmed in full.
While the rest of the Group has just done fine even during the worst
crisis in living memory, Finnlines was not able to anticipate the arrival of
the upturn which was particularly severe in the Baltic. The issue has been
promptly addressed through a management shake-up that saw the direct
intervention in Helsinki of a corporate top management team headed by
the Group’s joint managing director, Emanuele Grimaldi. This led to the
birth of a ‘new’ Finnlines, less self referential, more business oriented and
integrated with the rest of the Group. Most of the Finnlines’ network was
re-designed during the Spring with the aim of creating value by deploying
the right ships on the most suitable routes. At the same time a plan to
exploit all the possible synergies is being rolled out. The first visible result
is the BalticEuroMed Service which connects the Mediterranean and
North European markets to Finland and Russia.
A state-of-the-art fleet, overall reliability, top quality standards of services,
financial solidity and full dedication of staff are key elements when it
comes to choosing a business partner, particularly in tough times as the
current ones. This is all what our Group guarantees.
Starting with this issue, the Grimaldi News will be circulated not only
as an insert of Lloyd’s List, the bible of the shipping world, but also of
Deutsche Verkerhs-Zeitung (DVZ), the leading German logistics publication.
This new partnership results in the total circulation of Grimaldi News
increasing to 38,000 copies while allowing to get closer to the largest European
nation and the Continent’s industrial locomotive. A warm welcome
therefore goes to all the DVZ readers, with the auspicious that they will
find these pages of their interest.