And the Danish products tanker owner warned that its banks appear to have
ruled out a Torm-style rescue in favour of a “controlled winding up of the company”
if the search for fresh investment proves futile.
Nordea and Danish Ship Finance have agreed to defer debt payments
and loan covenant compliance by a further three months until 30 June.
However the latest stay of execution falls well short of the
12-month extension that the company had been seeking.
As a consequence Nordic has written down the value of its
vessels and revised its expected fourth quarter pre-tax loss by $40m.
“The deferral of instalments to 30 June 2013 granted by the
Company's banks is insufficient and does not ensure that the Company will be
able to present its annual report 2012 in accordance with the going-concern
principle,” Nordic said in a statement.
“In consequence of this, the Company expects to depreciate the
value of its vessels by $40m to the estimated market level (based on external
broker valuations).
“The depreciation has no liquidity impact, but Nordic
Shipholding then expects a pre-tax loss of $60-65m (against previously forecast
estimated loss of $20–25m before depreciation).
The company said it will continue the quest to find a
saviour within the new deadline with the possibility of converting part of the bank
debt into new shares.
Nordic Shipholding was spun off from Nordic Tankers when it sold its chemical tankers to investment fund Triton for $30m last year.
As a result of the deal it secured the original deferral of debt repayments from its banks until 31 March.
The company, which owns a fleet of six vessels, has pushed back
the release of its annual report from 15 March until 27 March.
