Kjell Inge Rokke's Ocean Yield has recruited Danske Bank's head of shipping as it booked a big loss for the third quarter.
The Oslo-listed sale-and-leaseback specialist said Oyvind Haraldsen will join from 1 January next year.
Haraldsen, who has been at Danske Bank for 15 years, will become managing director of Ocean Yield's Malta operation.
The company said Haraldsen has "extensive experience from ship financing from both Danske Bank and Nordea".
The news comes as the company found work for a costly cable-layer, but still took a big impairment hit in the third quarter.
Short-term deal
Ocean Yield, which owns 70 ships, said the previously idle 156-loa offshore ship Connector (built 2012) has been working a short-term charter for Ocean Installer to the end of October.
The vessel is now in the process of being fixed on a new short-term contract from early December until mid-February 2021, but the owner added that the market remains challenging, with rates continuing at low levels.
Ocean Yield took an impairment of $34.6m on the book value in the third quarter.
"There is continued risk related to the future book value of this vessel if the market does not improve in the near-term," the company said. "The vessel is scheduled for a planned drydock during November."
The total impairment for the quarter was $129.4m, including a write off of $94.8m on its 214,266-cbm floating production, storage and offloading unit Dhirubhai 1 (built 1979).
The book value is now $51.5m, with Ocean Yield trying to sell the unit.
Sale talks
"Discussions with potential interested parties have recently shown some progress, but there is still uncertainty related to when a sales process can be finalised," the company said.
The net loss for the third quarter was $104.4m, compared to a deficit of $63.2m in 2019.
Adjusted net profit was $24.5m, against $17m in 2019. Revenue dipped to $57.2m, versus $61.7m a year ago.
The company is paying a dividend of 5.15 cents per share, up 0.15 cents compared to the previous quarter and the 29th consecutive quarterly payout.
Ocean Yield chief executive Lars Solbakken said: "We are pleased to announce an increase in dividends for the third quarter. The current dividend level is conservative, relative to expected future earnings, and the intention is to gradually increase the dividends further going forward."
Less risky
He added: "Despite market volatility caused by Covid-19, all our counterparties are performing according to the respective charter contracts, and we are of the opinion that the counterparty risk has been reduced during Q3."
The Ebitda charter backlog was $2.9bn at the end of the third quarter, with an average remaining contract duration of 10.1 years.
"With a substantial cash position and access to attractively priced bank financing, Ocean Yield is positioned for new investments in modern vessels with long term charters," Ocean Yield said.
