MILES: CP SHIPS DEFINITELY NOT FOR SALE

MILES: CP SHIPS DEFINITELY NOT FOR SALE    Ray Miles, U.K.-based chief executive officer of CP Ships, denied that his parent group, Canadian Pacific Ltd., Alberta, may sell CP Ships along with some other of its main divisions.
   Asked if there were any truth in this, Miles answered “No!” emphatically.
   Miles said that CP Ships is producing good results for the group. CP Ships, the parent company of Canada Maritime, Cast, Contship Containerlines, Australia-New Zealand Direct Line, Lykes Lines and TMM Lines, announced recently record-breaking third quarter earnings resulting from strong gains in all main areas of activity.
   “How could Canadian Pacific sell us now, when it has just set us a goal of becoming the industry’s fourth largest carrier?” asked Miles. CP Ships is currently the world's seventh largest container shipping group.
   From 1994 to 2000, CP Ships has achieved a 40-percent compound annual growth, Miles said. The company has “the best return on capital” in the container shipping business, he added.
   Future growth would continue to draw on all its internally generated cash flow but, in addition, there is now a so far unexploited opportunity to use debt, he said.
   CP Ships has recently been awarded its own “BBB” debt rating by Standard and Poors. “No one is rated higher in the industry,” said Miles.
   Miles predicted further expansion for his company, through internal growth and acquisitions.