All Aboard the Monaco Yacht Show 2012

Firstly Patrick Coote addresses those gathered. "Welcome to Monaco, this is an informal chance to chat with us at Fraser Yachts, meet some of your industry co-workers and hear a little about what we've been up to this last year. Fraser Yachts are delighted to be celebrating their 65th anniversary in 2012. I know I speak for myself and those that work at Fraser Yachts when I say that we are incredibly proud to be associated with a company of such pedigree. A company that was started in one office in California by David Fraser in 1947 and now has over 130 employees and 11 offices globally." Patrick concludes, "Last year come to an end on a high for us as Fraser Yachts become the market leaders in super yacht brokerage with 45 of the year's 263 superyachts sold on their books. Lets hope this year ends on the same." With this the stage is handed over to Hein Velema, CEO. Now for the figures."Good morning. Brokerage had a good start to the year till April when unfortunately we saw a sharp decline in yachts over 50m selling. However, Fraser Yachts market share is still increasing with sales of yachts under 50m. Our numbers show the market is currently at 2010 levels. 12% of yachts on the market have been sold this past year, however this still leaves 88% still unsold. Yacht prices have been settled since 2009 and since then Fraser Yachts have sold around 150 yachts but it is still a buyers market. Yacht owners eager to sell have been known to drop their price considerably to guarantee the sale. Some buyers are even negotiating as low as 60% off the asking price of a yacht for sale." Hein continues. "In construction the news is more positive for builders. Many of those thinking of investment are of the opinion that it is better to start a 4 year construction project than buying new now. Throughout the charter industry we are seeing an increase of yachts available to charter. This has given customers more choice and seen a rise of 10% in chartered yachts. The three largest charter markets right now are; the USA, Russia and Brazil.We are noticing a decrease in charterers visiting the Italian coastline, largely due to Italy's recently enforced VAT laws. This has led to a rise in chartered yachts running to shores of Croatia, Montenegro and Turkey." And with that our 'first morning' breakfast is over for another year. We wish everyone a very enjoyable Monaco Yacht Show 2012. Something tells us that won't be too difficult to achieve.