Skaugen Defers Results, Pending Refinancing
Norway's cash-strapped LNG shipowner IM Skaugen said May 3 it is deferring publication of its results and 2017 annual report until it has a refinancing plan implemented. It owns a fleet of four small carriers, each of 10,000 m3 capacity that can carry either LNG, liquid petroleum gas (LPG) or petchems, along with three more similar-sized ones that carry either LPG or petchems.
The company invested in a small-scale LNG import project in Africa, understood to be in Ghana, the scheduled mid-2017 launch of which was deferred. The project is understood not to have progressed since.
Skaugen said May 3 that, as previously announced, it is putting in place a refinancing plan, and is working with different creditors on implementation of this. It said it had a framework agreement in place with the unsecured holders of IMSK14 bonds, but had not yet reached targets with secured creditors. It said it had held a general meeting and its shareholders had approved a draft refinancing plan.
However "until the refinancing plan is in place, we are reluctant [to disclose] financial information to the market and will therefore postpone reporting," its May 3 statement read. A month ago, it was reported that a key Norwegian shipping magnate might invest in the company but only under full private ownership, which would have ended its Oslo stock listing, and with the Skaugen family taking a reduced equity interest.