The companies in Norway’s Stove Group are preparing for a debt restructuring in order to achieve a better balance sheet, chairman Christian Andersen has said.
But the Tidemand family-controlled group did not disclose how it will carry out the effort.
Stove Group reported a $5.7m loss in 2019 and finished the year with negative book equity of $5.6m. The group had $143.8m in revenue last year.
Andersen told Norwegian daily Finansavisen that the main reason for the loss was a write-down of a deferred-tax asset.
Recently the Stove Group, which is owned by Kristin and Caroline Figenschou Tidemand, sold the 58,000-dwt Stove Caledonia (built 2010) for more than $12m, with a charter-back to for three to five years at an undisclosed rate.
This vessel belongs to the group's Stove Bulk, which also owns the 55,000-dwt Stove Ocean (built 2013).
The company’s debt to Danske Bank has come down a little less than $25m, though valuation platform VesselsValue says the Stove Ocean is worth more than $13m.
The loan runs until the end of 2022.
Stove Bulk reported debt of $36.9m as of the end of last year and negative equity of $5.6m at the end of 2019.
Stove Group also includes Eastern Bulk Carriers, part of its Tidships Services Group co-operation between the Tidemand family and Stein Erik Hagen’s Canica company.
Eastern Bulk operate between 20 and 40 bulkers in the supramax and ultramax segments.
