Fincantieri Shipyards in Trouble, Repositioning for Success or Both?

Fincantieri is the Italian government controlled company which owns and operates a number of Italian shipyard involved in the construction of both cruise ships and superyachts.

Last week Fincantieri was “forced” (not my word) according to Lloyd’s List, the preeminent shipping publication, to deny that it had lost as cancelled the contract to build the second Oceania new build. This malstrom was apparently started by some local metalworkers unions over concerns the loss would adversely affect them. Fincantieri, however, remains fairly tight-lipped, as there is little question that there are ongoing discussions with Prestige Cruise Holdings over timing and price renegotiations.

Fincantieri is also subject to pressure because the superyacht order book, in addition to the cruise line order book, is getting scarily thin. Orders are beign cancelled, others delayed and new orders just are not happening. Because Fincantieri has put so much effort and money into getting its previously old and unused shipyards up and running…and then expanding its facilities further…just to keep up with the demand…is faced with the bottom falling out and no sign that there will be a quick recovery.

To that end, earlier this month Fincantieri chose not to exercise its option to increase its interest in the large ship repair facility Lloyd Werft (in Breman, Germany) and has apparently shut down talks to take over Grand Bahama Shipyard in the Caribbean; quashing its previous plans to become a worldwide ship buiilding and repair conglomerate. It did, however, complete its purchase of Manitowoc, a Wisconsin, USA based company that builds and repairs mid-sized ships for various branches of the US military.

With all of this swirling around, the Italian government announced two days ago that may soon approve the sale of a portion of its interest in Fincantieri to private interests. Obviously, what that does is provide Fincantieri with a quick boost of cash while aleviating pressure from the Italian government, which doesn’t have the cash available to meet all of Fincantieri’s present needs.

I am not sure if this is “the tip of the iceberg” or the beginning of a successful retrenching that may allow Fincantieri to eventually exploit the weaknesses the shipbuilding and repair industries are is suffering from. What I am sure is that this is but the beginning of the story.