Singapore's Ezra says it faces court application to wind up unit of subsea JV

Ezra Holdings

15/02/2017 02:57

SINGAPORE, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Debt-laden Singaporean 
oilfield services firm Ezra Holdings Ltd  EZRA.SI  said late on 
Tuesday that a creditor of a business owned by an Ezra joint 
venture had filed a court application requesting that the JV's 
subsidiary be wound up. 
    Ezra said Necotrans, an Africa-focused logistics firm, is a 
creditor of EMAS-AMC Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the 
Ezra subsea services joint venture, Emas Chiyoda Subsea. Ezra 
has a 40 percent stake in the latter.  
    In a stock exchange filing, Ezra said it was assessing the 
impact of the application. Japanese firms Chiyoda Corp  6366.T   
and Nippon Yusen KK  9101.T  own the rest of Emas Chiyoda Subsea 
with stakes of 35 percent and 25 percent respectively. 
    Earlier this month, Ezra said it may have to take a $170 
million writedown on the JV. In January, Chiyoda said it 
expected risks and expenses of 38 billion yen ($338 million) in 
relation to the JV, while NYK wrote down 13 billion yen. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1FN16V 
     A spokesman for NYK said it does expect any further impact 
from the Necotrans application so far. Chiyoda did not 
immediately respond to an email seeking comment. 
    Ezra has been trying to restructure its operations and 
balance sheet to remain in business. Last week, it received a 
statutory demand from offshore vessel owner Forland Subsea to 
pay about S$4.4 million ($3 million), or face a winding up 
application.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nSNZ9bQjvW 
    The troubled company is among a range of Singapore offshore 
and marine services firms that have been pummelled by weak 
demand, causing a number of firms to struggle in meet debt 
obligations. Singapore banks are taking a hit as companies in 
the industry restructure their bonds and loans in a weak 
operating environment.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1FY5JZ 
    Ezra said earlier this month it had net current liabilities 
of $887.2 million at Aug. 31.  
    Its shares have lost more than S$2 billion ($1.4 billion)in 
market capitalisation since a peak in 2007, Thomson Reuters data 
shows. Its shares were trading 4 percent lower at S$0.023 by 
0255 GMT on Wednesday.  
    Ezra said in its filing the application for the JV unit to 
be wound up is set to be heard in court on Mar. 3. 
     
        ($1 = 1.4223 Singapore dollars) 
 
 (Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell) 
 ((aradhana.aravindan@thomsonreuters.com; +65 6403 5659; Reuters 
Messaging: aradhana.aravindan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: EZRA HOLDINGS DEBT/