Belgian tanker owner Euronav is content with its "strong" balance sheet after buying back $131.8m of bonds due next year.
The company said on Tuesday it had used part of the $200m it raised in a new bond sale earlier this month.
The buyback leaves $68m of the May 2022 issue still outstanding.
The new bonds mature in September 2026 with interest of 6.25%, against 7.5% for the 2022 notes.
A Euronav spokesman told TradeWinds: "Any plans to buy more back will be dependent on price, so likely 'stub' bond of $68m will continue until maturity in May 2022."
He added the company was "very happy" with the result, which is effectively a switch from short-dated bonds that had "some uncertainty regarding rollover" and that were dependent on conditions in the credit and tanker markets.
Diversifying away from banks
The medium-dated bond has a much cheaper coupon, with any uncertainty taken away.
Remaining cash will be used for general corporate purposes.
The spokesman added that the transaction "fits in well with our other sources of capital, diversifies away from banking sector and allows us to continue to build a track record started in May 2017 in the bond markets".
"We could have taken a lot more capital at this point but felt it prudent to do what we have done and assess conditions and our outlook at a later date," he said.
The deal brings the shipowner's liquidity back to around $1bn and improves all-round funding, the spokesman said.
Euronav believes it now has "high optionality", with a strong balance sheet.
