Niels Stolt-Nielsen says the group is “ready to go” for the long-mooted initial public offering (IPO) of chemical carrier company Stolt Tankers.
But debt levels in the remaining Stolt-Nielsen businesses have to be right before the trigger is pulled.
The Oslo-listed group’s chief executive told a conference call: “We’ve said that the shipping market needs to be there, but also the equity market needs to be there. We are ready to go.”
And he added: “The shipping market is absolutely there. We also have to kind of follow what’s happening in the equity market.”
The boss has been talking about an IPO for Netherlands-based Stolt Tankers since 2017 — but the timing has never been right.
Now earnings are at their best level since 2007.
Group net profit in the third quarter was $74.7m, from revenue of $744m.
This compared with earnings of $33.5m from income of $581m a year ago.
Contract of affreightment (COA) renewal rates and asset values are rising, and the company now has its biggest ever fleet of more than 160 ships.
VesselsValue rates the Stolt Tankers fleet as worth $1.6bn.
Balancing the businesses
But the CEO said: “Once we spin off Stolt Tankers, we’ve got to make certain that Stolt-Nielsen has the right balance to be able to continue to pursue the growth strategy for the remaining businesses.”
The group also has interests in tank containers, terminals, fish farms and LNG shipping.
“Once we spin off, and we don’t have access to the debt and the cash flow from Stolt Tankers, we’re going to make certain that remaining debt at Stolt-Nielsen is at the right level,” Stolt-Nielsen added.
He concluded: “But I would say that we’re getting close.”
