A shock NOK 1bn ($110m) provision made on Tuesday by Norwegian shipping lender DNB has been linked to the collapse of UK tour operator Thomas Cook.
The bank said only: "As a result of recent events and current circumstances related to one specific loan engagement, DNB expects to make a loan loss provision for this in the third quarter of about NOK 1bn."
It told TradeWinds it could not comment on specific clients, but analysts linked the loss to the failure of the UK company on Monday morning under a huge debt mountain and a lack of further funding.
Thomas Cook offered holidays with all the world's major cruiseship owners. These companies have been contacting passengers following the collapse.
Analyst Jan Erik Gjerland at ABG Sundal Collier said DNB may have provided cash to Thomas Cook through its subsidiary Ving.
"Thomas Cook has a lot of debt and they have bought many companies in recent years. Ving is a Nordic player, so DNB may have been involved that way," he told Dagens Naeringsliv.
Offshore a possibility?
Joakim Svingen at Arctic Securities said there were two main alternatives: offshore or Thomas Cook.
"Thomas Cook is not a company we are close to, but we have recorded that there was a lot of debt in the company when bankruptcy went out and that this is a completely unforeseen event," he added.
"We know restructuring is being done by several large offshore companies, but this is close to the bank and does not come as a surprise to DNB. In that regard, Thomas Cook is perhaps more likely than offshore as we consider it."
In July, DNB announced higher impairments in the second quarter as the offshore vessel sector remained challenging.
Provisions were NOK 450m to 30 June, against a reversal of NOK 54m a year ago.
These "primarily related to a negative development for individually assessed customers in stage three", the final stage of its distressed loan process, it said.
