Hong Kong's Jinhui Shipping and Transportation is not concerned about high levels of debt expiring over the next year.
The Hong Kong and Oslo-listed bulker owner must repay half of its $121.6m borrowings by this point in 2021 — a total of $60.8m.
Speaking on a conference call with analysts, vice president Wei Man Ching said: "The amount to be repaid within the next 12 months seems high, but do not worry, we will arrange this financing to stretch out the debt maturity in due course with our lenders."
He added that another 13% of debt expires within two years and 37% over the following three years.
Jinhui suffered a four-fold increase in losses in the second quarter on the back of weaker freight rates.
The supramax specialist lost $5.29m for the period, compared with a $1.15m loss a year earlier.
Not exciting
Wei said time charter equivalent earnings fell in the second quarter.
For the post-panamax fleet this was $5,750 per day, with supramaxes at $5,194 per day.
This averages out at $5,229 per day, which Wei called "not exactly a very exciting number".
But he added: "We have seen encouraging signs in recent weeks, where the freight rate has rebounded quite significantly.
"So on average, for the entire fleet, I would say we are very comfortably right now at above $7,000 for supramax and above $10,000 for our post-panamaxes, which is good news."
No crystal ball
As for the market outlook, Wei said the company does not have a crystal ball, but added: "We believe that every single industry is exposed to the same macro environment — and, right now, it's gloomy."
Jinhui has pointed to a "triple whammy" for the global economy: political tensions, the Covid-19 pandemic and natural disasters.
"The overall recovery will depend on how individual economies rebound going forward," Wei said.
He said the company's thinking is that the pandemic must be kept under control, or consumer confidence will take a battering and businesses will be unwilling to invest.
Jinhui operated 16 supramaxes and two post-panamax bulkers at the end of the quarter.
