Nam Cheong seeks bondholder approval to amend bonds' financial covenants

OFFSHORE support vessels company Nam Cheong is seeking the consent of its bondholders to amend a financial clause in its bonds, so as to give it more flexibility to ride out challenging market conditions.

The firm hopes to change the current financial covenants for its bonds due 2017, 2018 and 2019, which requires that its interest coverage ratio should not fall below 3:1 at any one time. It also hopes bondholders would waive any non-compliance of that clause for the test period ended Dec 31, 2015.

These amendments will give it "increased operational and financial flexibility in light of challenging market conditions facing the global economy and the oil and gas sector", the firm said in an announcement on Tuesday.

It added that it is confident of its ability to service all payments on the notes, and is "committed to prudent capital management policy".