Nordic Tankers A/S: Ongoing negotiations about a long-term solution for the company

Ongoing negotiations about a long-term solution for the company, reservations about going-concern and revised forecast on the pre-tax result for 2012. Postponement of publication of annual report and postponement of ordinary general meeting
According to the published financial calendar the annual report of Nordic Shipholding A/S ("Nordic Shipholding" or the "Company") is to be published 15 March 2013 and the Company's ordinary general meeting is to be held on 16 April 2013 at 11:00.
In the 2011 annual report from Nordic Shipholding and lastly in the Company's Q3 interim 2012 report published on 30 November 2012, the Company has stated that its agreement with its creditor banks on the deferred repayment of the Company's bank loans (including all deferred instalments as well as future ordinary instalments) expires on 31 March 2013.
The board of directors of Nordic Shipholding and the Company's banks have been in dialogue about a prolongation of the instalment deferral by another 12 months while exploring the possibilities of a long-term solution for the Company. During these talks the Company's major creditor bank now has stated that they only are willing to defer the instalments by three months such that the instalment deferral expires on 30 June 2013. The parties are still negotiating a long-term solution for the Company and thus the Company's operations are not impacted directly by this new deferral of instalment payments.
The deferral of instalments to 30 June 2013 granted by the Company's banks is insufficient and does not ensure that the Company will be able to present its annual report 2012 in accordance with the going-concern principle. In consequence of this, the Company expects to depreciate the value of its vessels by USD 40 million to the estimated market level (based on external broker valuations). The depreciation has not liquidity impact, but Nordic Shipholding then expects a pre-tax loss of USD 60 -65 million (against previously forecast estimated loss of USD 20 - 25 million before depreciation). Accordingly, the equity capital is lost and expected to be negative by approx. USD 40 million. The Company and the Company's banks will strive to contract with a new investor within the next three months. The Company's banks acknowledge that a conversion of part of the bank loans into new shares could be part of a long-term solution for the Company. In case the search for a new investor proves futile, the Company's banks desire to carry out a controlled winding up of the Company.
In light of the above, the Company's board of directors has decided to postpone the publication of the Company's annual report from 15 March 2013 to 27 March 2013, and as a consequence hereof postpone the Company's ordinary general meeting from 16 April 2013 to 23 April 2013. As a result of the new date for the general meeting, the deadline for filing shareholder proposals to the general meeting's agenda is fixed at 15 March 2013 at 23:59 hours.
Source: Nordic Tankers A/S