Fairline batten down the hatches

We are all battening down the hatches are we not? We're all in this global mess together in some shape or form weither we like it or not! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif Ten years down the road we'll be talking about history, and our grandchildren will study this period in school history as we did the 29 and the early 30s.
 
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maybe they should've cut their prices earlier I seem to recall the Targa 44 was absolutely much more than the Italian rivals

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cheaper the Sessa C46, more expensive then Abs 47 and Cranchi 43 Med HT
Azimut 43S is also more expensive, but thats a bit of a different boat accept for the IPS
 
There are very few industries which are not affected by this mess. The economic crisis may have started earlier in the USA, UK and Ireland but my suppliers are now reporting significant downturns in virtually every country. I cannot see that the boat building industry will not be severely affected by this as boats are a totally discretionary purchase. If luxury car makers like Aston Martin and Bentley are reporting massive downturns in sales, you can bet that boat builders are suffering the same, if not worse. At the very least I think we'll see consolidation in the industry next year and possibly even some high profile failures
 
One upbeat possibility is that as interest rates approach zero, the massive frozen backlog of private deposits may start spending late next year on all manner of investments and business interests yielding at least some return, the wheels begin to turn again.
 
You would like to think so but I think what drives most people to spend money on luxury items is confidence in the future, confidence that their business will survive or confidence that they will keep their job. Until that confidence returns, I don't see buyers commiting to finance in order to buy a boat or, if they have cash, spending that cash instead of saving it for a rainy day, even if it's attracting little or no interest. Don't forget what counts for most savers (not all) is the real interest rate ie the interest rate - inflation. If you are getting 5% interest and inflation is 3%, in effect that is the same as getting 2% interest if inflation is zero. In both cases, the purchasing power of your capital remains the same
 
There are signs this is already happening in the housing market. I'm helping my father move house and since the last interest rate cut the amount of interest in his house has gone through the roof ( /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif). House prices 20% off their peak and a 2% base rate make holding cash a bit of a waste of time, so it seems peeps are deciding now may be quite a good time to get back into property. Of course some more bad news may change this, and I'm only talking with two estate agents, but it's an encouraging sign anyway.
 
Houses are different to boats. There is always an underlying demand for housing. People want to move up or down the property ladder for many reasons or to another area for a different job or whatever and there is always this British thing about owning your own home. Demand hasn't gone way in the last 12 months, it's just been stacked up waiting for the market to bottom out and mortgage rates to fall.
 
Agree 100% with that, but it's an indication of general sentiment. On the mobo front, I think that there are peeps who see an opportunity to buy in/upgrade at a lower cost to change, and with finance costs plummeting they may decide to make their move sooner rather than later as nobody but nobody really knows how boat (or house) prices will move over the next 12 months.

I'm actually one of those peeps looking to move up to a 37-40' mobo, and I fluctuate between trying to move up now and waiting 'til autumn '09.
 
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I fluctuate between trying to move up now and waiting 'til autumn '09.

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Me too, though what weighs as heavily as the financial implications is the lack of a boat in 2009 if I wait it out. No idea how to price the enjoyment of a year on the water, so will go on gut feel and whether the right deal pops up!
 
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If you are getting 5% interest and inflation is 3%, in effect that is the same as getting 2% interest if inflation is zero. In both cases, the purchasing power of your capital remains the same

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Except there's no indexation on savings income, so 5% interest gross is 3% net of tax (for high rate tax payers), and 2% gross is 1.2% net.
 
In that case you're better off with 2% interest because the real rate (after inflation) is 1.2 - 0 = 1.2% not 3 - 3 = 0%?
 
I dont know (and haven't checked, though I could) but I very much doubt fairline have had a massive bailout. They didn't have much debt left at the entry to this recession so they wouldn't be in trouble with banks, and they're not doing so badly that they cant pay the rent and wages, so there's no plausible reason I can see for a massive bailout. Ditto sunseeker

Princess is more likely to need shareholder support cos of its LBO debt which, at a guess, is 10x Fairline's, for basically the same sized company in EBITDA terms
 
I didn't think Princess had shareholders, I thought they were privately owned..? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
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