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INTERVIEW-UPDATE 1-Smit keeps H2 targets, awaits Boskalis bid
10.10.08, 8:37 AM ET
AMSTERDAM, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Dutch maritime services company Smit, the target of a 1.1 billion euro ($1.51 billion) bid proposal from Boskalis, sees no impact on the company from the credit crisis and is sticking to its financial targets, its chief executive said on Friday.
'We are still well in line with our expectations, that the second half will be better than the first half. We are not that vulnerable (to the financial crisis). Vessels still need tugboat assistance when entering or leaving ports,' CEO Ben Vree told Reuters in an interview.
Smit, which provides harbour towage and ocean transport services, terminal maintenance and installations and ocean salvage, expects second-half net profit to increase by 7 to 12 percent after flat results in the first half, he said.
This compared with a 28 percent rise in the second half of 2007.
Boskalis Westminster NV, the world's largest dredger, said last month it planned to make a 62.50 euro per share all-cash offer for Smit which would give it a leading global position in the oil and gas terminal business.
It is one of the companies that have helped build facilities such as Dubai's Palm (nasdaq: PALM - news - people ) and World islands. Smit has rejected Boskalis's unsolicited proposal.
Smit's shares were 3.2 percent lower at 53.87 euros by 1024 GMT. The stock rose as much as 28 percent on Sept. 15 when Boskalis announced its bid but has since shed some of the gains and is down 23 percent since the start of the year. Boskalis was 5.3 percent softer at 25.41 euros.
Boskalis may yet abandon its takeover plans amid the financial crisis and stock market downturn, with investors in general looking to companies for buybacks or dividends to offset their other losses, Vree said.
'I believe a bid by Boskalis is not a very certain issue,' he said. 'The issue is far more from the shareholders' side. I can imagine shareholders preferring to see some cash coming out (from their investments) rather than see companies spending on new investments,' he said.
Smit, which has said the Boskalis undervalues the company, is worth more than 62.50 euros per share, said Vree, citing analysts' estimates.
'Financial analysts that followed us have made an analysis of our sum-of-the-parts and they came to the conclusion that our value should be between 80 and 85 euros per share,' he said.
Boskalis, which has built up a 20 percent stake in Smit, has until Oct. 13 to inform the market of its next step under stock market regulations.
(Editing by Quentin Bryar) ($1=.7287 Euro) Keywords: SMIT/
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