Nordcapital achieves record year, gives positive outlook for shipping

Nordcapital achieves record year, gives positive outlook for shipping The Nordcapital Group, the German shipowner and investment company, today reported record results for 2006 and said the outlook for shipping “continues to be favorable.”
   Hamburg-based Nordcapital said that payouts to about 41,000 investors in 2006 reached a best-ever 149 million euros ($199 million), 26 percent higher than in the previous year. Equity placed exceeded the previous year’s figure by 40 percent to 281 million euros ($375 million), while the volume of investment totaled 451 million ($602 million).
   Nordcapital has 132 ship projects under management mostly through its charter lines E.R. Schiffahrt and OSM Schiffahrt. E.R. Schiffahrt, a wholly owned Nordcapital Holding subsidiary, is one of the world’s largest charter lines for container ships with an active fleet of 66 box ships aggregating 324,850 TEUs and nine other vessels on order.
   “We anticipate growing tonnage requirements in all segments of shipping,” said G'nther Casjens, managing partner and chief executive officer of Nordcapital Holding. “Container shipping demand will continue to increase by double-digit percentage figures in the years ahead. Fears that there might be surplus capacity in the future are in our opinion unrealistic at present.”