Norway's Stolt-Nielsen has hinted strongly that initial public offerings are on the cards for two of its divisions.
The Oslo-listed group looks set to resurrect a long-planned spin-off of its chemical tanker business, and may also choose to separate its fish farming operation.
Speaking to analysts on a conference call, chief executive Niels Stolt-Nielsen said the supply-and-demand picture was now favourable for chemical carriers, with the orderbook at a low level.
"So when the global economy eventually does recover, we should have a strong shipping market, and then we will proceed with the IPO that we have planned for," he added.
The Stolt Tankers IPO has been mooted for four years.
The company had been readying a split following the $575m takeover of Jo Tankers in 2016.
In 2017, the shipowner said any listing would have to come at the right time — and the chemical tanker market was not in the right position at that point.
The group said it preferred to focus on consolidation.
Profit strong
Stolt-Nielsen has however said it intends to remain a significant majority owner in the business.
The chief executive was speaking after the company logged a much bigger third-quarter net profit of $31m, with the outlook improving for chemical tankers in the final three months.
He said all divisions had contributed to this success, but Stolt Sea Farm was overlooked by analysts.
"Stolt Sea Farm is not getting its fair share of analysis ... and we need to do something about that," he told the conference call.
The executive said he recognised that the group was viewed and priced as a conglomerate by shareholders.
Shipping out of favour?
"They look at us as a shipping company, and shipping is totally out of favour these days," Stolt-Nielsen added.
He explained that Stolt Sea Farm has built up a fantastic knowledge of the fish farming industry.
"I don't want to do anything with that business before we are able to show the Ebitda coming from that 20 years of investment," the CEO said.
"But if you look at other companies that are listed ... some of these companies haven't produced a ton of fish and are priced higher than the market capital of Stolt-Nielsen."
Analysts made it clear on the call that they were not receiving enough information on the fish division.
He concluded: "We're exploring the opportunities. We are looking at various ways of how to get the evaluation more transparent for Sea Farm."
