Banks can sow goodwill during crisis - restructure debtors' finances

THE going is tough for Singapore's offshore marine services firms - deemed the riskiest of the oil and gas sector - with cheap oil, falling margins and less jobs having driven two listed entities to seek refuge from creditors under judicial management (JM).

The move by Swiber Holdings, the latest high-profile company, to pick the JM route (it had initially opted to wind up its operations but had a change of heart after talking to its lenders) signals that the pain from falling oil prices is now being acutely felt. There could be more trouble to come, especially for industry players that are highly-leveraged and without deep-pocketed shareholders to bail them out.

Of the 19 offshore service companies (including oilfield services companies) listed on the Singapore Exchange, 10 companies, which collectively account for 60 per cent of the debt suffered losses in first quarter of 2016, according to Moody's Investors Service.