Norwegian owner DSD made a NOK 354m ($40.8m) write-down of the book value of its tanker fleet in its annual results, which were also heavily affected by Covid-19.
The write-down was a result of lower values in the tanker market.
It led to a pre-tax loss of NOK 353m in 2020, compared with a NOK 1bn profit a year earlier, which had been boosted by the sale of ferry operator Norled, leading to the company's biggest profit ever.
Revenue sank to NOK 4.33bn in 2020, down from NOK 5.35bn.
At the end of last year, DSD had book equity of NOK 1.94bn.
The company said the beginning of 2021 has been weak, but it expects revenue and values to pick up later this year. It still believes this will be a demanding year, but noted that it has the financial strength to support its existing portfolio and to invest in new companies.
DSD, formerly Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskab, used some of the profit from the Norled sale to help pay for a series of four MR tankers at Hyundai Vietnam Shipbuilding. They were ordered for $32m each, plus the cost of installing scrubbers.
The company is increasingly focused on the product tanker market, where it already has two 16,600-dwt ships. The 2009-built tankers are owned by a joint venture with Stavanger-based OH Meling.
Its DSD Shipping wing has traditionally focused on aframax tankers, but has reduced its exposure in the segment, selling three of its four aframaxes this year.
Brokers have repeatedly claimed that its last aframax, the 105,400-dwt Stavanger Falcon (built 2009), has also been sold. Chief executive Ingvald Loyning denied the reports.
DSD chair Yuhong Hermansen owns 60.74% of parent company Folke Hermansen. The rest of the shares are owned by Hilde, Cathrine, Jorn Folke and Harald Endre Hermansen — the adult children of the late shipowner Folke Hermansen — through their respective companies.
The annual report shows Loyning received total remuneration of close to NOK 5.7m in 2020.
