Norwegian shipowner Ocean Yield has reduced its financial expenses by buying back part of a bond due next year.
The company said it had exercised a call option to hoover up NOK 300m ($33.4m) of the NOK 750m OCY04 issue, which carries interest of 4.5%.
This matures in September 2021 and there is now NOK 450m outstanding.
Payment to investors will take place in October.
Ocean Yield has four bond issues stretching to 2024, totalling NOK 2.4bn.
In November 2019, the Kjell Inge Rokke-owned sale and leaseback specialist refinanced part of its debt by spending proceeds from a separate NOK 750 bond sale.
Funds raised
The Oslo-listed company used NOK 384m of this money to repurchase a portion of its outstanding NOK 1bn bond issue OCY03, which expired this April.
Last year, Ocean Yield completed a fully underwritten private placement of 15.93m shares worth NOK 717m.
The cash was earmarked for new investments and for general corporate purposes.
Rokke's Aker Capital — its largest shareholder with 61.65% — was allocated 9.82m shares, maintaining its stake in Ocean Yield.
The fleet encompasses bulkers, VLCCs, suezmaxes, product tankers, offshore support vessels, boxships, LPG carriers and car carriers.
It said on Monday that it was due to bank $30m from selling a 75% stake in an offshore construction ship to joint venture partner SBM Offshore.
