Canada Steamship Lines Refutes Erroneous Reports(MONTREAL, QC) -February 9, 2004--An article published in yesterday’s edition of the Ottawa Citizen, and repeated in various other newspapers today, misrepresented certain fundamental facts about the ownership of CSL domestic and international fleets. The Citizen article is written in such a way that readers could conclude that the bulk of CSL’s operations are not in Canada. That is incorrect. Indeed the sub-headline incorrectly implies that we are not “fundamentally” Canadian. These are the facts. The CSL Group Inc. as well as Canada Steamship Lines, are both headquartered in Montreal. CSL Group and its subsidiaries (the Group) employ approximately 700 people worldwide. About 500 of those people work for Canada Steamship Lines, our domestic operations. The Group holds significantly more assets in Canada than it does abroad and revenues earned by its Canadian operations are significantly larger than revenues earned outside of Canada. In addition, over the last five years the Group has made significantly larger investments in Canada than outside of Canada. The article stated that “CSL International has 19 vessels in its fleet” and that Canada Steamship Lines “sails just 17 ships domestically.” These statements are misleading and inaccurate. While the domestic count is right, the international one is not. The majority of CSL Group ships are owned and operated in Canada. It is not clear where the figure of 19 international ships comes from but it might refer to the fact that CSL International (CSLI) manages an international pool of 18 ships, 8 of which are owned by two European companies unaffiliated with CSLI. Another 5 are indirectly owned by companies in which CSL Group holds a non-controlling 50% stake. CSL Group and its subsidiaries wholly own just 8 international ships, 5 of which are in the pool. In addition, the Group participates in joint ventures which include 4 ships which are owned between 25 and 50 percent – none of these joint ventures are controlled by CSL Group. Mr. Pierre Préfontaine, Senior Vice-President of CSL Group, in commenting on the article said, “In recent weeks, the management and employees of CSL have seen repeated attempts in the media and beyond, which seem intentionally designed to diminish our accomplishments, not to mention our commitment to Canada. We are a proud Canadian company that does now and will continue to compete aggressively at home and abroad. While we recognize that people have the right to express opinion there exists an equal obligation to base those opinions on fact. Henceforth, we will seek to ensure that the public record concerning our company is factual.” -30- For further information:
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