Competitive Strengths. We possess a number of competitive strengths that have allowed us to develop and maintain our leading position within the dredging industry, including the following: FLEXIBLE PORTFOLIO OF DREDGING ASSETS. Our dredging fleet is the largest in the United States and one of the largest in the world. Our U.S. fleet consists of over 200 pieces of equipment, including the largest number of xxxxxx dredges, most of the large hydraulic dredges, the only two large electric dredges, and the only drillboat capable of operating in offshore conditions in U.S. waters. The size, versatility and technical capabilities of our fleet improve our competitiveness as they generally permit us to select the most efficient equipment for a particular job. To maintain the value and effectiveness of our fleet, we emphasize proactive maintenance that results in less downtime, increased profitability, enhanced vessel life and relatively low capital expenditure requirements. To this end, in 2000, we incurred $25.9 million of maintenance expense (which is included in costs of contract revenues) in addition to capital expenditures of $14.1 million.
Competitive Strengths. The Group believes that it is well placed to continue to grow and develop for the following reasons:
Competitive Strengths. The Group believes its success and prospects are supported by a combination of the following key competitive strengths: • headquartered in Chongqing and the Western China region, which provides economic growth and policy advantages • a leading PRC financial service institution with a wide range of security products and services • large and diverse client base • strong ability to develop new products and services • strong research capabilities • experienced management with extensive industry expertise Business Strategies The Group seeks to become a leading integrated financial group in the PRC. To achieve this goal, the Group intends to pursue the following core business strategies: • further strengthen the Group’s leading position in the Western China region • continue to improve and advance the Group’s integrated business platform to increase competitiveness • enhance risk management and internal controls to meet new regulatory requirements and minimise business risks • effectively attract, incentivise and retain talented employees THE ISSUER The Issuer is an integrated financial institution that offers a wide range of financial products and services in Hong Kong. The Issuer has developed a robust business model with diversified sources of income and strives to achieve international standards in its product and service offerings. The Issuer received the ISO 9001 (Quality Management System) and ISO 10002 (Complaints Management System & Customer Satisfaction) accreditations in 2008. The Issuer’s principal business lines currently include:
Competitive Strengths. We believe we are well positioned to execute our business strategies based on the following competitive strengths: • Stable and Predictable Cash Flows from OpCo. The Ethylene Sales Agreement is designed to cover our costs and provide a $0.10 margin per pound on a substantial majority of the ethylene we produce, reducing our exposure to commodity price volatility and promoting more stable cash flow. Westlake is obligated to purchase 95% of our planned ethylene production. In addition, Westlake is expected to exercise its option to purchase 95% of our excess production. We believe each of those factors should result in more stable cash flows. Each of OpCo’s ethylene production facilities requires turnaround maintenance on average every five years. OpCo intends to reserve approximately $28.9 million per year to fund these turnaround expenditures. Reserving these amounts should enable OpCo to maintain steady cash flows for distributions while funding these significant non-annual expenditures. We intend to use $ million from the proceeds of this offering to fund OpCo’s initial balance for this turnaround reserve. Westlake’s purchase price for ethylene purchased under the Ethylene Sales Agreement will include a component (adjusted annually) designed to cover, over the long term, substantially all of OpCo’s turnaround expenditures.
Competitive Strengths. Leading global independent provider of aftermarket aviation services across commercial and government end-markets. Our position as an independent global service provider is a differentiator. Many of our competitors are part of a larger OEM or airline operator. This independence results in a larger total set of opportunities and allows us to be better aligned with our suppliers and customers by focusing solely on serving their needs in the aviation aftermarket. Furthermore, this independence positions us well to address key industry challenges with solutions such as marketplaces for parts procurement, predictive maintenance and the introduction of new PMA parts.
