New Chairman Takes Helm at Norden

A new chairman has taken the helm of the Danish shipping company Dampskibsselskabet Norden A/S.

Namely, at the company’s annual general meeting on Thursday now former Chairman of Norden’s Board of Directors Mogens Hugo has stepped down, handing over the reins to Klaus Nyborg, who was appointed Chairman by the Board of Directors after the meeting.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been part of this journey – regardless if it has been from the beginning or for a shorter period of time. It is now up to someone else to run NORDEN. I can calmly step aside and leave the helm to Klaus Nyborg, who has been marked out to be the chairman of this proud company and its 144 years of history. I wish that he will get as many good experiences as I have been given,” Hugo said.

Norden posted a loss of USD 416 million in 2014, amid disappointing market conditions.

“In many ways, 2014 turned out to be an unusual year. The challenges were lined up, and single factors moved in the wrong direction. We had prepared for a dry cargo market in recovery, but we got the opposite. Therefore, not even a very strong tanker market in the fourth quarter and a large number of initiatives from the company could save the results for the year,” Hugo commented.

The company has sold seven vessels, including two newbuilding contracts, since January 2014, generating about USD 200 million in total proceeds.

The decision was triggered by relentless dry cargo market that failed to rebound as expected and followed a suspension of investments in dry cargo vessels. The company has also reduced the chartered dry cargo fleet by 20% as the market outlook continued to disappoint and appeared still more challenging.

Speaking of the outlook, Hugo said that 2015 seems to be yet another challenging year within dry cargo.

“However, we are well-prepared for the challenges. 64% of our vessel days in dry cargo in 2015 were at mid-February covered at levels which are not great as previously mentioned but which are, however, significantly above current levels. The main part of the coverage is placed in the first half of the year so if the markets should improve a bit towards the traditionally stronger fourth quarter, we are also ready for this,” Hugo said in a report.

Norden  expects a total EBIT of USD -40 to 40 million. Dry cargo EBIT is expected to be USD -40 to 20 million while tanker EBIT is expected to be USD 5- 45 million.