P&O GROUP REVISES STRATEGY

   The British conglomerate Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. announced that its strategy will now be to focus on cruise shipping, ferries and ports.

   P&O, which also owns 50 percent of P&O Nedlloyd Container Line, said that it intends to list P&O Nedlloyd as a publicly-owned company on the stock market.

   The cruises, ferries and ports will be the group’s core divisions, said Jeffrey Sterling, chairman of P&O.

   Over the short to medium term, P&O will also move out of the property business, float its construction arm Bovis and sell its exhibitions division Earls Court Olympia, the company said.

   P&O announced its new strategy as it reported an increase in 1998 group profits before reorganization costs, to 416 million pounds ($678 million), compared to 363 million pounds in 1997.

   The P&O group made an operating profit of 20 million pounds ($32 million) on its share of P&O Nedlloyd, compared to 21 million pounds in 1997. P&O’s bulk shipping interests made an operating deficit of 11 million pounds ($19 million) last year, compared to a profit of 1 million pounds the year before.