Aker Yards CEO says 5-7 bln nkr estimate 'reasonable' for offshore unit

Aker Yards CEO says 5-7 bln nkr estimate 'reasonable' for offshore unit

	Published : Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:29 By : Agencies Print this Story

OSLO (Thomson Financial) - The CEO of troubled Norwegian shipbuilder Aker Yards said that a 5-7 bln nkr valuation made on its Offshore & Specialised Vessels unit, which could be listed, was a fair ballpark figure.

Earlier, Aker Yards slashed its 2007 full year profit guidance and said margins would be hit in 2008 following production problems in its Finnish operations, sending its shares down by 20 pct. But it held out hope for investors by saying that it was looking at spinning off the unit on the stock exchange among several options.

CEO Yrjo Julin told Thomson Financial News that he was aware of the 5-7 bln nkr figure, but that it had not come from his own company.

'I think our CFO has mentioned that he has seen an evaluation made by an analyst in this range but that does not mean that it came from us,' Julin said.

Asked whether he thought the valuation was fair, he said: 'We feel it is a resonable valuation.'

Some analysts have questioned whether the unit would be valued at that amount, and have instead suggested that 4-4.5 bln nkr might be a more accurate valuation for the unit.

Aker Yards said that its board had decided to evaluate a possible spin-off of the business area.

'Several alternartive routes will be evaluated, including spinning the business area off to existing shareholders, by a separate stock listing, or other alternatives that will be attractive to shareholders,' the company said.

The Aker Yards CEO told Thomson Financial that his company's dividend policy was not under threat following the profit warning -- the second this year -- despite suggestions by some analysts that dividends could be suspended.

'The policy is unchanged,' he said.

Aker Yards' dividend policy, contained in its balance sheet, 'Aker Yards objective', over several years, is to pay out a substantial proportion of its net profit as dividends.

Aker Yards is holding a teleconference for investors at 1600 CET to discuss the announcement.

patrick.mcloughlin@thomson.com

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