NOL: NO PLAN FOR JACOBS TO LEAVE

NOL: NO PLAN FOR JACOBS TO LEAVE    In an official statement, Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines, the parent company of APL, has denied that its group president and chief executive officer, Flemming Jacobs, would step down.
   Cheng Wai Keung, chairman of the Singaporean group, “dismissed as speculation market and media talk” that Jacobs would leave the group, which has seen worsening financial results since last year.
   “This topic has not been raised by the NOL board, has not been on the board’s agenda, and has not been discussed,” Cheng said. “Mr. Jacobs’ contract is not up for renewal until mid-2004, and we do not anticipate discussing his contract until the appropriate time,” he added.
   Jacobs, a former partner of Denmark’s A.P. Moller and one-time head of Maersk Line, joined Neptune Orient Lines in June 1999 to turn around the group.
   The Neptune Orient Lines group has described current container freight rates as unsustainable, but said that it has a positive cash flow.
   Neptune Orient Lines will release its half-year financial results on Sept. 6.
   “Our focus as a board is on supporting the management team under the leadership of Flemming Jacobs to operate the business efficiently,” Cheng said.