Norway's Dof group is plotting injections of NOK 700m ($76.6m) in new equity as refinancing talks continue.

The offshore vessel owner said its 100%-owned unit Dof Subsea continues to negotiate a long-term financing solution, with a structure that is "aligned with the current market".

It is in talks with banks and has a conditional commitment from its largest indirect shareholder, chairman Helge Mogster's Laco, to subscribe for NOK 200m of new cash equity, subject to agreement with banks and bondholders.

New equity coming

The total could reach NOK 500m through a rights issue in January, and parent Dof will in turn inject NOK 200m of new equity into Dof Subsea.

In addition, all bank loans are being merged into one new $680m facility with maturity in December 2023.

"With the new facility, annual amortisations are reduced and this represents a reduction in annual amortisations of 66% average over the first three years," Dof said.

Interest margins are largely unchanged.

New covenants have been drawn up to fit the current market situation, Dof added.

Regarding its bonds, Dof is proposing to extend them beyond the end of the new super-loan.

The NOK 1.3bn DOFSUB07 issue will be stretched to 29 December 2023, with the NOK 175m DOFSUB08 extended to 14 August 2024. The NOK 900m DOFSUB09 matures in December 2024.

The company has received indication that 62% of DOFSUB08 votes and 47% of DOFSUB09 will support the proposal. A vote will be held on 20 December.

The group had an order backlog of NOK 14bn at September.

Market slightly better

"The market has improved slightly, and the company has a higher Ebitda compared to last year," Dof said.

"However, the current Ebitdais still not sufficient to cover the group's current amortisation profile."

Dof posted a larger loss in the third quarter as impairments hit the fleet.

The net deficit to 30 September was NOK 2.13bn, from NOK 269m in the same period of 2018.

It booked an impairment charge of NOK 917m, versus NOK 124m a year ago.

Revenue rose to NOK 2.05bn against NOK 1.73bn.