Stolt-Nielsen ends fiscal year with $494 million of liquidity, may repay $300 million bond

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., Jan. 28 – Stolt-Nielsen Ltd. ended its fourth quarter on Nov. 30 with debt, net of cash and cash equivalents, of $78 million, and with liquidity of $494 million.

At the end of the quarter, the company closed on a new $166 million, 6.5-year sale and leaseback transaction secured by roughly 10,000 of the its tank containers.

The company said it has liquidity available to pay off its $300 million bond due June 2016 “in case the bond market is not active” or favorable close to maturity.

No decision has been made yet regarding the payoff, said chief financial officer Jan Chr. Engelhardtsen during the company’s earnings call on Thursday.

According to Engelhardtsen, Stolt-Nielsen’s debt was 77.2% fixed and 22.8% variable interest rate at year-end, with an average interest rate of 4.7%.

The company ended the quarter with $21.4 million, with revenue of $494.6 million, compared with a net profit of $30.1 million, with revenue of $500.7 million, in the third quarter of 2015.

Net profit attributable to shareholders for 2015 was $132.7 million, with revenue of $1.98 billion, compared with $77.1 million and revenue of $2.14 billion in 2014.

Regarding 2016, chief executive officer Niels G. Stolt-Nielsen said “the outlook for the global economy and trade provides limited comfort.”

“Considering the uncertain outlook, we will continue to manage our businesses conservatively in order to be well positioned to capitalize on opportunities that may arise in a weak market,” he said.

London-based Stolt-Nielsen provides integrated transportation solutions for bulk liquid chemicals, edible oils, acids and other specialty liquids.

© 2015 Prospect News.
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