Singapore's Marco Polo Marine Seeks To Delay Bond Payment

Reuters

SINGAPORE, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Singapore's Marco Polo , 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 applied to place itself under judicial management, after initially filing for liquidation.

And AusGroup, 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.

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..

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)



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