DELMAS PARENT REPORTS FALL IN RESULTS, RATES

   France’s Bollore group, the parent company of the shipping line Delmas, the forwarding group AMI and the forwarding/port operator SAGA, said that freight rates for its liner shipping business dropped by 13 percent in the first half of the year.
    Operating profits in liner shipping decreased in the first half primarily because of the impact of lower freight rates, Bollore said.
    The Bollore group did not disclose detailed figures for its liner shipping business.
    Bollore reported a group operating profit of FFr266 million ($43 million), down 42 percent on the the half of 1998. Group revenue decreased by 8 percent, to FFr10.6 billion ($1.7 billion), from FFr11.5 billion in the same period of last year.
    Net profit after recent capital gains of the sale of shares was FFr262 million ($42 million), up 24 percent on the corresponding period of last year.
    Besides transport and forwarding, the main activities of the Bollore group are films and special papers manufacturing, tobacco and energy.
Bollore recently announced a plan to acquire OT Africa Line, the London-based Europe/West Africa niche carrier.