Norwegian ship lessor Ocean Yield is expecting less competition from leasing rivals just as demand for alternative financing starts to increase.
Chief executive Lars Solbakken told analysts on a conference call that its strong position is partly to do with banks being more conservative.
And he added that the shipowner is also seeing increased demand for leasing as a result of the bond market "being more or less closed for shipping at the moment".
"We also expect some reduction in competition as some of the traditional leasing houses are expected to be less active than they have been over the last two years," Solbakken said.
"With respect to financing, the recent market volatility may lead to slightly higher pricing for bank financing and also higher bond pricing, but lower Libor interest rates."
Solbakken said the Kjell Inge Rokke-owned company had not yet received any requests for renegotiation of its charters so far.
Bulkers, boxships and car carriers had been negatively affected, with increased counterparty risk for his company, but Solbakken added that the oil price crash has been positive for tankers.
The duration of any lower earnings will decide how Ocean Yield will be hit.
Crisis impact could be minimal
"If activity levels start increasing again, hopefully our counterparties will perform according to contract," Solbakken said.
The crisis may not have an impact on Ocean Yield, he added.
The Oslo-listed company slashed dividends on Wednesday.
Investors are now set to receive just $0.05 per share, against just over $0.19 in the fourth quarter of last year.
Asked what would push the company to raise shareholder payouts again, Solbakken said that "lower market uncertainty" would be important.
"We have also stated we are using this period to build a more robust balance sheet," he said.
"We are not going to give any guidance going forward. The dividend will be decided by the board of directors at the end of each quarter."
Loan switches
Solbakken was also asked if the company's currency exposure would be the same for the upcoming quarters as it was in the first, when it booked a gain of $48.1m from currency changes but a loss of $64.4m from a change in the fair value of financial instruments.
"The answer is no, we have reduced the level of cross-currency swaps, and we are in the process of changing one NOK [Norwegian krone] loan into US dollars," he said.
"We expect to be more balanced accounting-wise. The reason for the net negative effect was partly because we also had swapped some of the operating expenses in NOK."
