French offshore vessel owning giant Bourbon has asked lenders to postpone repayments as it looks to sort out a deal to balance its servicing of debt against the slow recovery in the offshore sector.
Bourbon says it its still awaiting several replies, and the situation “raises a material uncertainty with regards to the going concern” of the company, although it remains confident it will obtain agreements regarding the payment postponements.
“The group has decided to close its financial statements with regards to the going concern in light of the trust it has in the outcome of the reopened discussions with financial partners,” the company stated in its 2017 annual report, in which it posted a loss of €576.3m ($712.7m).
Bourbon had 178.2 vessels stacked throughout the year on a full time equivalent basis, up from 125.9 in 2016.
Last month, Bourbon announced digital transformation plans to improve competitiveness which will see 41 vessels disposed as they are too old for the programme.
