Louis buys the Triton, sale & leaseback for Sunbird

Louis Plc (LUI) announced the purchase of a new vessel named the ‘Triton’ in an auction held in Piraeus for USD 9.5 mln in cash. According to management, the new vessel will sail out of Piraeus, thus increasing LUI’s presence in the Greek Market with a total of four ships. The new vessel was built in 1971 and has a capacity of 945 passengers with 378 cabins. Management anticipates that the above mentioned development will have a positive effect on turnover and profitability from 2005 onwards.

The total fleet of LUI currently comprises of eleven ships, with a total capacity of 10.500 passengers.

Earlier the Group announced that it had signed an agreement with the Norwegian company MED CRUISE AS, for the sale and leaseback of the vessel Sunbird for USD 90 mln.

According to the agreement, the vessel will be repurchased by LUI in ten years time.

According to management, LUI will have a net cash inflow of USD 30 mln from the above sale and leaseback transaction while neither a profit nor a loss will be recorded in the Group’s financial results. Management anticipates that the funds generated from the above mentioned agreement will support the Group’s expansion plans.

The vessel ‘Sunbird’ has been renamed to ‘Thomson Destiny’ and will be

chartered to Thomson Cruises (a subsidiary of TUI) from May 2005 to November 2011.

The development is in line with Management pledge to improve its operating cash flow and reduce its debt level.