Company Announcement 5/2022
March 31, 2022
NORDIC SHIPHOLDING A/S
Company Announcement: 05/2022
Published via NASDAQ OMX on March 31, 2022
Nordic Shipholding A/S – Annual Report 2021
The Board of Directors of NSH A/S is pleased to announce that the Annual Report for 2021 is approved on March 31, 2022.
2021 in brief:
- The Group continued to be a tonnage provider in the product tanker segment in 2021. The two handysize tankers remained commercially managed by the Hafnia Handy Pool (Nordic Agnetha and Nordic Amy) while the LR1 tanker (Nordic Anne) remained commercially managed by Hafnia LR Pool.
- Revenue earned by the vessels reached USD 21.5 million, which resulted in a Time Charter Equivalent (“TCE”) revenue of USD 10.4 million and an EBITDA of USD 42,000.
- The average TCE rates in the first 9 months of the year were depressed due to reduced tonnage demand caused partially by the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with an excessive tonnage availability in the market. In spite of the improvement in average TCE rates in Q4 2021, the average daily TCE rate earned in 2021 by the vessels was approximately 47% lower than the average TCE rate earned in 2020.
- After accounting for depreciation, impairment loss, and financial income and expenses, the Group incurred a loss of USD 5.8 million. This loss coupled with prior years’ accumulated losses resulted in a negative equity of USD 14.3 million as at 31 December 2021.
- There was no cash sweep in 2021. Apart from the quarterly loan instalments totalling USD 2.1 million, the net proceeds from the sale of Nordic Hanne and Nordic Pia were applied towards the repayment of bank loans in 2021.
- Nordic Hanne and Nordic Pia were delivered to their new owners in April 2021.
- The remaining three vessels, Nordic Anne, Nordic Agnetha and Nordic Amy, were classified as assets held-for-sale in June 2021.
- As past attempts to search for a suitable merger partner did not materialise, the Board held discussions with the Group’s various stakeholders to ensure the continuity of the Group’s operations in a responsible manner. Discussions with the lenders, which commenced in December 2021, resulted in securing an agreement to extend the maturity of the existing bank loan facilities till 31 March 2022. The remaining three vessels, Nordic Anne, Nordic Agnetha and Nordic Amy were committed for sale in early 2022. Nordic Anne and Nordic Agnetha have been delivered to their respective new owners, and it is Management’s expectation that Nordic Amy will be delivered to her new owner no later than mid-April 2022. The entire net proceeds from the sale of these vessels were or will be used to pay down the respective loans associated with the vessels. Upon the completion of the sale of the vessels, all bank loan facilities will be settled.
- To support the ongoing efforts to clarify the future activities of the Group, the majority shareholder of the Company intends, if necessary, to support the Group, financially or otherwise, in the normal course of business of the Group with a view to ensuring that the Group will be able to continue its operations as a going concern for at least the financial year 2022.
- The Chairman of the Board, Mr Knud Pontoppidan and a director of the Company, Mr Jens V. Mathiasen retired from the Board of the Company with effect from 14 October 2021. Mr Esben Poulsson, an independent director of the Company, was appointed as the new Chairman of the Board of the Company on the same day.
- The actual results for 2021 were in line with the revised expectations of the Board, as indicated in the Company Announcement 01/2022 on 6 January 2022.
Outlook for 2022:
- Following the sale of the remaining three vessels, the sum of the forecasted receivables and bank balances will be sufficient to settle all unsecured creditors (excluding shareholder’s loans) of the Group at least for the financial year 2022. The majority shareholder of the Company has the intention not to demand the full repayment of the shareholder’s loans extended to the Group, thereby securing the financial conditions for the Group to continue its operations as a going concern.
- Following the sale of the remaining three vessels, the TCE revenue for 2022 is forecasted to be in the region of USD 2.5 million – USD 3.0 million. After accounting for estimated vessel operating costs and administrative operating expenditure, the Group’s expected EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) for 2022 would be in the range of USD -0.5 million – USD 0.5 million, and the result before tax, positively impacted by one-off income, would be between USD 2.0 million – USD 3.0 million.
For further information please contact:
Esben Poulsson, Chairman of the board, Nordic Shipholding A/S: +45 39 29 10 00
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