Singapore's Marco Polo Marine seeks to delay bond payment (updated)

AusGroup

14/09/2016 07:19

* Notes worth S$50 mln due on Oct 18 
    * Adjourns noteholder meeting to Sept 16 
 
 (Adds meeting adjourned, industry context and share move) 
    SINGAPORE, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Singapore's Marco Polo 
 MAPM.SI , a marine logistics firm that counts oil and gas firms 
as clients, wants bond holders' nod to defer payment of notes 
worth $37 million, the latest oil-related firm in the city-state 
to show financial strain from crude's drop. 
    The offshore and marine sector in Singapore has been 
pummelled as clients have cut spending due to oil's slump. In 
July, oilfield services firm Swiber Holdings  SWBR.SI  applied 
to place itself under judicial management, after initially 
filing for liquidation.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1BJ3Y7      
    And AusGroup  AUSG.SI , which provides maintenance and 
construction services to the natural resources sector, has  
sought to extend the maturity of its bonds worth S$110 million 
due next month.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nSNZ3f519f 
    Marco Polo Marine Ltd held an informal meeting with  
noteholders to explore various options related to the maturity 
in October of notes worth S$50 million ($37 million) and present 
an independent business review conducted by KPMG, the company 
said in a statement on Tuesday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1BJ3Y7. 
    It did not say why it wants to delay the repayment of the 
notes or defer it to when, but said that noteholders present at 
the meeting appeared generally supportive of the company's 
initiative. 
    The company has adjourned the meeting to Sept. 16 to allow 
noteholders "to digest the information" presented by the 
company, including the proposed terms of the extension, and to 
receive further feedback from them, it said. 
    As of June 30, Marco Polo Marine, which charters tugboats 
and barges to customers in the offshore oil and gas and 
commodities sectors, had S$186.5 million worth of borrowings and 
debt securities repayable within a year or on demand.  
    Shares of Marco Polo, which has a market capitalisation of 
S$29 million, have lost nearly 60 percent so far this year.     
 ($1 = 1.3657 Singapore dollars) 
 
 (Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and 
Muralikumar Anantharaman) 
 ((aradhana.aravindan@thomsonreuters.com; +65 6403 5659; Reuters 
Messaging: aradhana.aravindan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: MARCO POLO DEBT/