NOL run into the ground by PAP scholar Generals, now being sold to French. WTF

xingguy said:

melzp said:

If I remember correctly. ahter GCT left came in a Danish guy who
led NOL profitably. Then. they wanted to buy stakes in Hapag-Llyod.
which was opposed by the German Govt...........what would it turn out?

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That Danish guy is Flemming Jacobs.

Excerpt from referenceforbusiness.com

"In 1999, NOL went in search of a new CEO, bringing in Flemming Jacobs, who had formerly worked for rival Maersk. Jacobs immediately set to work rescuing the sinking company, shedding a number of noncore operations acquired with the APL purchase, raising US$500 million in equity funding, and paying down more than half of the company's debt by 2000. Among the assets sold was Stacktrain, bought by Pacer International for US$315 million. The company also began trimming its workforce, which had grown to more than 10,000 employees after the acquisition, cutting out more than 1,000 jobs.

By 2000, NOL was once again posting profits. At that time, NOL began preparing to boost its logistics component, which it viewed as its major growth area. As Jacobs stated in a company press release, "This is the third of the three steps we identified to take the company into the future. The first two steps--strengthening the financial base of the company and strengthening the organization of the liner business and how we serve our customers--are now well established. Concurrently, we have prepared ourselves for the third step--focusing on our Logistics business."

For this, the company hired outside consultants to assist its APL Logistics subsidiary in planning its expansion. Then, in 2001, APL Logistics made its first major acquisition, that of GATX Logistics, one of the largest logistics providers in the U.S. market. The US$210 million acquisition gave NOL some 21 million square feet of warehouse space in a network operating across North and South America, while boosting APL Logistics revenues by more than 70 percent. The GATX acquisition also brought the company an online logistics subsidiary, Direct Logistics. That same year, the company added German freight forwarding and distribution operator Mare Logistik & Spedition GmbH."​

Flemming Jabcobs was asked to leave in 2003.

Excerpt from article "Flemming Jacobs a victim of circumstances"

"(SINGAPORE) A mix of trading conditions and official displeasure is the likely reason behind the surprise ouster of Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) boss Flemming Jacobs, according to a startled shipping community.

Senior shipping executives Shipping Times spoke to were virtually unanimous in their view that Mr Jacobs' departure was at least one part market driven and one part behind-the-scenes intrigue.

Record low freight rates combined with severe overcapacity have devastated profits across the container shipping industry, particularly for those reliant on the transpacific trade. This is especially the case with NOL's container division APL, which generates up to 75 per cent of its business in these lanes ending up with a record interim 2002 group loss of $266 million.

But the straight-talking Dane's industry counterparts were in firm agreement that the results would have been little different, if anyone else had been in his shoes.

'Flemming's position is effectively dictated by the circumstances in the market at this moment and I don't think that anyone that is so heavily exposed to the transpacific trade could have done much better,' said a senior executive with a feeder operator.

'But as soon as something goes as bad as this, somebody's head has to roll,' added a mainline executive. 'I think there has probably been this type of reaction by the NOL board after coming under pressure from NOL's main shareholder, Temasek Holdings.'

He went on to say that because Singapore Inc is used to so many successes with its government-linked companies, NOL's chequered history has become 'a real bone of contention'.

'It is not a case of Flemming Jacobs being allergic to red ink, but rather Singapore Inc being terribly allergic to it,' he said in reference to Mr Jacobs by-now legendary remark.

Some executives speculate Temasek would have expected Mr Jacobs to be more aggressive with his cost cuts, lowering of capacity and disposing of assets to stop the heavy bleeding.

But liner executives all too familiar with the vagaries of their business said a long term view was crucial because of the cyclical nature of the industry.

Another liner executive pointed to the purchase of APL which was made prior to Mr Jacobs' joining. That purchase shot APL into the liner big league as the sixth largest operator, but also gave them bigger gearing and bigger exposure to the market.

'When you get into the deeper water the troughs and peaks of shipping get wider and longer,' he said. 'The shareholders have to realise that if you want to swim in the deep water you have to be prepared to go through the ups and downs.'

A number of other lingering factors likely aggravated the situation ultimately causing the board and Temasek to lose their patience, say some. This included added tonnage commitments that started to be delivered in the worst of the rate trough, the apparent fall-through of a deal to buy P&O Nedlloyd that was as close as 80 per cent done in the middle of last year, and ongoing resentment of a higher cost and enlarged expatriate head-count.

Some among the liner executives Shipping Times spoke to suggested the move was part of the apparent trend of expatriates being displaced from top positions at various GLCs, apparently for poor performance.

Highlighting the well-known tongue-in-cheek reference to NOL as 'No Orientals Left', one expatriate executive suggested it might be replaced with 'APL - Ang Mohs Please Leave', 'ang moh' being local parlance for Caucasians.

One executive says he expects a positive result from NOL in 2003, adding: 'Its a pity that Flemming had to go now as the successor can at the end of 2003 claim credit for turning the NOL group around.'

In his view Mr Jacobs is one of the most skilled shipping executives in the business and 'it's going to be difficult to find anyone that can run NOL better. I don't understand the politics of the decision, but I guess that is what it is about.'​

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Former cabinet minister David Lim to take over NOL CEO, following the sacking of Flemming Jacob.

Excerpt from TradeWinds

"Singapore's Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) has confirmed rumours that former ports boss and cabinet minister David Lim is to take over as group president and CEO, following the sacking of Flemming Jacobs in January.

NOL said in a statement Thursday that Lim, 47, has "extensive experience in both the public and private sectors", where he has worked as CEO of the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA), CEO of the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park based in Shanghai, and as a Singapore Government Cabinet Minister."​

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xingguy said:

..............

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mojito said:

You forget it was the PAP who has built up the company from nothing, now it is worth billions!

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syed putra said:

I don't think anyone will pay billions for this.not currently. In fact, they should just give the company away or shut it like what Malaysia did to MISC contained business to cut the losses.
NOL may end up being a regional container line if the giants take over.serving east coast India/bsngladesh, Indonesia/Malaysia and south china, Indochina and Thailand/Myanmar.
That way, their giant container ships will have less stops in the region and become more productive.

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mojito said:

Gave up on this company long ago. The writing was on the wall long before they sold the profitable logistics arm. All the sinkies i know in shipping work for other liners. They ordered some VLCCs a couple of years ago? Not profitable for short haul.

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frenchbriefs said:

ang moh da best!!!

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frenchbriefs said:

this is what happens when ur government monopolies an industry....whoever's heard of a major port of call country without a shipping company?if u open up the shipping industries to individual sinkie entrepreneurs,we would have been a shipping magnate or powerhouse like the greeks now.

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kryonlight said:

Very soon, it will be SIA's turn.

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aerobwala said:

F&N, NOL, what next ?

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mojito said:

You forget it was the PAP who has built up the company from nothing, now it is worth billions!

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prancku said:

So very sad state of affairs, losing an entire major national shipping company just like that.

NOL staff used to be proud and mighty, boasting of their own special system & setup, having their own huge building at Alexandra Road . Their HR even boast of their unique leading edge system that was both employee and customer centric.

Just shows how a good company can go down the drains in just two decades after military scholars start being parachuted onto the management team....

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congo9 said:

If Flemming can't do it, you think David lim could ? TH is more of old boys network then a profitable outfitoutfit.

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