CSAV elects new board
- José de Gregorio, Hernán Buchi and Juan Francisco Gutiérrez are the new names that join the board on behalf of Quiñenco.
- The general manager of CSAV, Oscar Hasbún, explained the results for 2011, detailing the deep restructuring carried out by the company, and referred to the industry’s prospects for this year.
The shareholders on this occasion elected the company’s new board of directors, with Guillermo Luksic (Quiñenco), Francisco Pérez Mackenna (Quiñenco), Gonzalo Menéndez (Quiñenco), Juan Antonio Álvarez (Claro), Arturo Claro (Claro), Canio Corbo (pension funds), Víctor Toledo (pension funds) and Christoph Schiess (Transoceánica) being re-elected.
The new names joining the board are the former president of the Banco Central, José de Gregorio, the economist Hernán Buchi and the lawyer Juan Francisco Gutiérrez, all on behalf of Quiñenco.
The meeting also decided to retain KPMG as the company’s external audit firm.
General manager explains the position of CSAV
During the meeting, CSAV’s general manager, Oscar Hasbún, explained the results for 2011, detailed the complete and deep restructuring carried out and referred to the industry’s prospects for this year.
He explained that, within the restructuring process, the company reduced its container carrying capacity by around 50% compared to the first months of 2011. In addition, under agreements with important shipowners, it increased the volume of joint operations from about 30% at the start of last year to more than 90% today. The company is also increasing its own fleet, which will pass from 9% in early 2011 to 37% in July 2012.
Also within this process, CSAV made two capital increases, one of US$ 500 million successfully carried out in July 2011, and a second of US$ 1,200 million completed in February this year.
Particularly important was this second capitalization as it successfully made effective the division of the company and the creation of SM – SAAM, a company holding the shares of the former CSAV subsidiary, SAAM. Both companies now trade their shares independently on the stock market.
Regarding the position of the shipping market, Mr Hasbún confirmed that this continued to be passing through a complex scenario. This is because it is affected mainly by high oil prices, the global economic situation and instability in freight rates, factors that are expected to be still reflected in the industry’s results in the first quarter of 2012.
However, he stressed that there were some signs of improvement, which might eventually translate into a better market scenario in the coming quarters, provided they are sustained. These include the increase in the detained fleet, the increase in joint operations between different shipowners, and announcements and applications of rises in freight rates in the different world traffics.