Nordic Shipholding A/S Releases First Quarter Results

Nordic Shipholding A/S announced its first quarter financial results for 2013.

Summary

(The comparison figures for first quarter 2012 are stated in parenthesis.)

The company has had a moratorium on its product tanker debt in the past years and has therefore been in close dialogue with its banks and several potential solutions to the company’s financial problems have been considered.

However, the banks have in Q1 of this year notified the company that installments and loan covenants are only deferred until June 30, 2013. As a consequence of this, the company has by the end of 2012 written-down the value of its vessels to an estimated market level of $123 million, accordingly, the share capital is lost, and the debt is reclassified as short-term.

Both the company and the company's banks are in firm discussions with potential investors regarding potential equity injections. In case those discussions with the potential investors prove futile, the company's banks desire to carry out a controlled winding up of the company. The company and the company’s banks continue discussions regarding a potential extension of the moratorium that expires on June 30, 2013 in order to allow sufficient time to negotiate and conclude a potential equity injection or a controlled wind up to ensure there is no disruption to the operation of the vessels.

In December 2012, Nordic Ruth went off-hire due to severe damages in the vessel’s water ballast tanks. The expected off-hire period is six months. The cost of approx. $5 million related to the repair and part of the off-hire period is expected to be covered by the insurance.

The company has in Q1 2013 closed down dormant subsidiaries in Singapore and the USA and expects to close down dormant subsidiaries in Denmark in Q2.

In the first quarter of 2013, the Time Charter Equivalent (TCE) revenue decreased by $1.6 million to $5.7 million ($7.3 million). The off-hire of Nordic Ruth is the main reason for the decline in revenue. In Q1 in 2013 EBITDA declined from $3.4 million in Q1 2012 to $1.3 million.

Year to date, the cash flow from operations was $1.5 million primarily deriving from operating activities including working capital improvements. The comparable figure for Q1 2012 was $1 million.

This quarterly report covers the period January 1-March 31, 2013 and consists of figures related to both the chemical segment (discontinued operations) that was sold in Q2 2012 and product segment (continued operations).

www.nordicshipholding.com