Navios Maritime Holdings executives are showing willingness to sell shares in the company's two listed spinoffs, though only as a last resort, an analyst said Wednesday.
Deutsche Bank analyst Amit Mehrotra said it is the first time that the New York-listed shipowner's management has given any signals that it is willing to sell shares in bulker and containership owner Navios Maritime Partners and tanker arm Navios Maritime Acquisition.
He described the potential for share sales as one of the "liquidity levers" at Navios Holdings' disposal.
"While this remains a last resort option, in our view, it supports our thinking that [Navios Holdings'] viability remains a top priority for management," the analyst said in a note to clients after speaking with Navios chief executive Angeliki Frangou.
"The development also has positive implications for [Navios Acquisition], in our view, as the overhang from Holdings has been a significant roadblock to shares re-rating."
Not imminent
Still, Mehrotra said he does not expect a share sale as imminent or necessary.
After all, he said he expects Navios Holdings to be able to hold onto its $70m cash balance though the end of the year thanks to higher freight rates and cost efforts.
As TradeWinds reported earlier today, Navios reported a smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss of $5.41m, compared to $26.4m.
The $0.11 loss per share was lower than the $0.37 predicted by analysts.
