Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Arnish shipyard owner Harland & Wolff hits back after shares plunge

The company shed nearly one-third of its value earlier today following claims the chancellor won't approve a critical loan guarantee.

The company shed nearly one-third of its value earlier today following claims the chancellor won't approve a critical loan guarantee.

Shares in famous shipbuilder Harland & Wolff (H&W) plunged by nearly one-third today after a report claimed it may miss out on a lifeline £200 million taxpayer-backed support package.

The shares regained some lost ground, closing nearly 15% lower at 10.02p.

The whole company is now worth less than £18m.

Belfast-based H&W has shipyards at Arnish, on Lewis, and in Methil, Fife.

The firm is best known for building the Titanic.

Current projects include a £1.6 billion contract to build Royal Navy ships.

Harland & Wolff expects to create 200 new jobs at Arnish

Just a few weeks ago the company said it expects to create at least 200 new jobs at Arnish and 400 in Methil through a £270m investment in its two Scottish shipyards.

Today’s share price crash followed a report in The Times, which warned the business may fold. Citing a defence source, the newspaper claimed Chancellor Jeremy Hunt may block a £200m loan guarantee from Westminster-backed UK Export Finance (UKEF).

This contradicted a UK Government spokesman and the company itself, which both insisted discussions were ongoing.

H&W in Methil.
H&W in Methil. Image: Steve Brown / DCT Media

The Times also reported a source told it there is a “row” between government departments over H&W’s export development guarantee (EDG) application.

H&W warned last September it needed UKEF’s support to refinance a credit facility.

It added: “Should the company not be successful in raising these additional funds and continues to retain its current cost base, a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the group’s ability to continue as a going concern.”

Auditors included the “material uncertainty” in their opinion of the group’s accounts for 2022.

H&W's Arnish yard.
H&W’s Arnish yard. Image: Harland & Wolff

As of June 30 2023, H&W’s net debt stood at £88.3m. This was after a loan from Riverstone Credit ballooned from £28m to £79m.

In its half-year report, H&W said: “Having completed significant due diligence in the first half of 2023, we are now in the process of negotiating with the high-street banks and Astra Asset Management to structure a syndicate of commercial and private debt, along with the UKEF guarantee.”

The company hoped to seal the deal before the end of last year.

H&W's yard in Methill, Fife
H&W’s yard in Methil, Fife. Image: Wullie Marr / DC Thomson

Responding to The Times report, H&W said it wished to “provide clarity on, what it considers to be, a misleading and inaccurate article… and to reassure shareholders”.

The firm added: “Management remain comfortable with progress on what is a complex and large transaction for all parties involved. A further update will be provided in the next few weeks.

“The company has been working through its five-year plan, which has seen four shipyards and fabrication facilities rebuilt or refurbished, a pipeline of contracted work secured and increasing amounts of work delivered.”

H&W has £200m revenue target for 2024

H&W said its five-year plan would see it hit annual revenue of £200m by the end of 2024, of which about 90% was already contracted.

The company employs more than 1,500 people who are “all engaged on active projects”.

H&W said its next target was to increase contracted revenues for 2025 and beyond.

Before then, it aims to achieve a “milestone” break-even point in annualised earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation.

H&W famously built the Titanic, which met its end on April 15 1912 after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic.
H&W famously built the Titanic, which met its end on April 15 1912 after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Image: Design Pics Inc/Shutterstock

H&W added: “The company is busy across its five markets, with substantial growth on its key energy and cruise contracts.”

The shipbuilder also highlighted “highly supportive financial partners and shareholders who are aware of the long-term plan”.

Shipbuilder ‘disappointed’ by report

In a further criticism of The Times report, H&W chief executive John Wood said: “We were disappointed to read this article and the reaction it has caused, given that we have grown the business to become a major player in the UK shipbuilding sector, whilst spreading our risk over multiple markets.

H&W chief executive John Wood.
H&W chief executive John Wood. Image: David Cordner

“Our EDG application has not been rejected and continues to be work in progress. I expect to be providing a fuller update on our refinancing plans in the next few weeks.”

H&W’s two Scottish sites have both advanced to the next stage of a key route to public and private sector partnership funding.

It is hoped the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council Strategic Investment Model programme will deliver major infrastructure upgrades.

According to H&W, support through the scheme will significantly boost its ability to service and maintain a “burgeoning” renewable energy sector.

Conversation