Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA took pains to reassure investors about the solidity of its cash position and plans to sell aircraft and cut costs as disruptions in the debt-laden budget carrier’s long-haul flights add to difficulties during the traditionally slow winter season, Bloomberg News reported. “To meet the competitive environment in a period with seasonally lower demand in Europe, the company has made several changes to its route portfolio as well as adjusted its capacity,” Norwegian said on Monday.
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Norwegian power trader Einar Aas, widely regarded as the biggest in the market, will keep his house and a few other assets in a deal with creditors after his spectacular default on Nasdaq Inc.’s Nordic power exchange this year, Bloomberg News reported. The agreement, which was announced on Thursday, marked the end of week-long negotiations between Aas and members of Nasdaq’s default fund who are seeking to recoup as much as possible of the about 100 million euros ($113 million) they had to put on the table when the trader’s bets soured in September.
Norwegian power trader Einar Aas has reached an agreement with creditors, including Nasdaq Clearing, after his default in September forced members of the clearing house to stump up around 100 million euros ($113 million) to cover his losses, Reuters reported. Nasdaq Commodities, which operates the Nordic power exchange, said on Thursday that Aas had agreed to sell his assets to help the clearing house and its members recover the money they had to put into a default fund.
Norwegian drillship and rig operator Fred. Olsen Energy, proposes to sell one of its drilling units and to issue $130-140 million in new equity to pay off debt, as part of a refinancing plan published on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The proposal includes issuing about $90 million in new loan capital, paying $580 million to settle outstanding secured debt, and converting bond debt into equity. Existing shares of the company will represent approximately one percent of the share capital after the restructuring.
Nasdaq, the exchanges operator, reported a 4.1 per cent drop in net income for the third quarter, which included an $8m loss related to the default of Einar Aas, a private Norwegian trader whose bets in the European power market collapsed last month, the Financial Times reported. Nasdaq is the principal trading exchange where futures contracts tied to physical energy markets in the Nordic region are transacted. The loss contributed to an increase in Nasdaq’s overall operating expenses in the quarter to $354m from $341m a year ago.
Oil service company Solstad Offshore is seeking negotiations with creditors and other stakeholders to boost liquidity ahead of the slow winter season, the company said on Monday, sending its shares down around 20 percent, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. Solstad, with more than 4,000 employees, is one of the world's largest suppliers of specialised vessels to the oil and gas industry as well as offshore wind power developers. It has a fleet of 141 vessels.
Europe’s biggest debt collector says an increase in volumes in Sweden and Norway could be an early indication that households are starting to struggle paying off their consumer loans after debt burdens swelled to records, Bloomberg News reported. Volumes under Intrum AB’s existing credit-management services contracts in the two countries, in which it collects money from non-paying clients of financial institutions, grew by more than 15 percent in the first half of the year.
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Erik Heim, the CEO of Nordic Aquafarms, says his company will not be hindered in its construction of new recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) Atlantic salmon facilities in both Belfast, Maine, and Fredrikstad, Norway, by the news that vendor Inter Aqua Advance (IAA) has filed for bankruptcy protection, Undercurrent News reported. "We are working with a portfolio of vendors, including several RAS vendors, in addition to our internal engineering department that is growing," Heim said in an email to Undercurrent News.
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Norwegian drillship and rig operator Fred. Olsen Energy, owner of the yard that built the RMS Titanic, is considering a debt and equity restructuring that would almost wipe out the value of its current shares, the company said. With debt and liabilities of more than $840 million at the end of June, Fred. Olsen last month stopped paying its creditors to preserve liquidity, making it the latest victim of a slow recovery in the oil and gas exploration sector, Reuters reported.
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Offshore rig company Seadrill has received two additional non-binding proposals from bondholders for a debt restructuring after the Norwegian firm filed for U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September, court documents show. The two indications of interest came from bondholders seeking alternatives to the firm’s own plan, Seadrill said in documents submitted late on Friday.
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