While profit went up, Farstad Shipping achieved an operating income of only 495.6 mill. NOK for the 1st quarter (827.2 mill. NOK for the same period in 2016). The reduced operating income was a result of the[ds_preview] challenging market situation.
The operating costs for the period were 821.3 mill. NOK (569.6 mill. NOK ). The company had 14 vessels in lay-up (fully or partly) during 1st quarter. Operating loss before depreciations (EBITDA) was 325.7 mill. NOK (profit 257.6 mill. NOK ). The operating loss (EBIT) was 511.1 mill. NOK (profit 48.1 mill. NOK ) after depreciations of 185.4 mill. NOK (depreciations of 209.5 mill. NOK in 2016).
Net finance was positive 1.62 bn NOK (positive 57.7 mill. NOK ). Included in the financial statement was an one-off accounting impact related to converting debt to equity at a share price higher than the fair value. This resulted in 1.74 bn NOK being recognised as financial income.Net profit was 1.11 bn NOK.
In the statement of financial position at 31 March, interest-bearing mortgage debt totaled 8.3 bn NOK (11.8 bn NOK at 31.03.16). The Group’s booked equity at 31 March 17 was 3.8 bn NOK (4.57 bn NOK). Equity ratio was 28.7% (25.9%).
Merger with Deep Sea and Solstad on track
The Group implemented the announced financial restructuring as planned, resulting in a strengthening of the balance sheet and liquidity position. The proposed merger between Farstad Shipping, Solstad Offshore and Deep Sea Supply was approved by the respective companies’ extraoridnary general meetings on 25 April 2017. The consolidated company, Solstad Farstad ASA, will have a fleet of more than 150 vessels and 3,000 employees, and the merger is expected to be effective in June 2017.
Farstad Shipping‘s fleet currently consists of 56 vessels (27 AHTS, 22 PSV and 7
SUBSEA). The company‘s operations are managed from Aalesund, Perth, Singapore,
Macaé and Rio de Janeiro with a total of 1,325 employees engaged onshore and
offshore.
