The first quarter net profit was primarily made up of a combination of financial income and advisory fees, the company explained.
Total operating expenses fell from $1 3 mill in 1Q18 to $288,000 in 1Q19.
On 1st January this year, the Hunter Group changed its presentation currency from Norwegian kroner to US dollars. As a result, the main transactions going forward for the Hunter Group and Hunter Tankers will be in US dollars.
Subsequently, the company reported that $420 mill of bank financing was secured from a syndicate of international shipping banks. The loan will finance about 60% of the construction cost with available draw at the delivery of each vessel.
New delivery dates for the first four VLCCs are Hull No 5455-16/9/2019; No 5456-27/9 /2019; No 5457 - 31/10/2019 and Hull No 5460 -31/10/2019.
In addition, Hunter has appointed OSM Ship Management as the technical manager for all the company’s newbuildings upon their delivery.
Hunter also said that it had received a bid from a third party buyer for two of its VLCC newbuldings at an en bloc price of $196 mill ($98 mill per vessel) and advanced discussion to finalise the sale are underway
Hunter has successfully completed a private placement, raising gross proceeds of around NOK695 mill through the allocation of 190,454,000 shares at a subscription price of NOK3 65 per share.