Bulker owner Wisdom Marine Lines is adding to its vessel acquisition war chest at a time when many shipowners are raising money simply to remain afloat during the pandemic.
The Taiwanese company said it is planning to generate $63.8m, after its board of directors gave approval for a private placement of new stock over the weekend.
The share closed at TWD 25 ($0.84) in Taipei on Monday, giving it a market cap of TWD 18.23bn.
In May it raised $13.3m by selling new shares to fund its orderbook, as it stayed on track with its expansion plans.
More new ships coming
The company said then it was due to take delivery of a handysize, a supramax and a post-panamax bulker in the second half of this year.
And Wisdom will also take over seven handysizes, one supramax and four post-panamax bulker newbuildings in 2021.
The company has 135 bulkers operational, plus two boxships, and another 18 dry cargo vessels on order.
The world’s second largest handysize bulker owner has been renowned for its resilient financial performance over the past decade.
Since going public on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in 2010, Wisdom Marine has never made a yearly loss.
But the company dipped into a net loss of TWD 127m in the first quarter, compared to a profit of TWD 410m during the same period of 2019.
With low freight earnings, revenue fell to TWD 2.79bn from TWD 3.4bn.
