sind.The Board of Directors of Attica Enterprises S.A. is pleased to announce the confirmation of the order for two more SuperFast ferries of the latest technology at the German Shipyard Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft (HDW).
The two new ferries complement the order of four SuperFast ferries placed by Attica with the same yard in July 1998. The deliveries of the six new ferries are scheduled to commence as of May 2000 and will continue through 2001.
This investment of Attica Enterprises S.A. for six new ferries, worth in total about US$ 650 million, is the largest investment in the history of Greek passenger shipping and is financed by Atticas own funds and bank financing obtained by the German bank Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufau (KfW).
Attica owns and operates today four ultramodern car passenger ferries, namely SuperFast I, SuperFast II, SuperFast III and SuperFast IV, in the Greece - Italy sea routes. In a total of about forty ships operating in these routes, the four SuperFast ferries gained the leading position in 1998 and captured the highest market share in both passenger traffic and truck traffic. They operate daily from Ancona directly to Patras and from Bari to Igoumenitsa and Patras and return.
The total investment cost for the fleet of ten ultramodern SuperFast ferries has reached approximately US $ 1.2 billion.
Fiscal year 1998 was the fourth successive year with increasing profits. Net earnings after interest and depreciation charges, deriving from the operation of Atticas four SuperFast vessels and from cash management, reached Grd 9.1 billion, showing an increase of 72.1% over 1997.