Bergen Group Skarveland, a wholly owned subsidiary of the listed Bergen Group offshore and maritime solutions provider, has filed a petition for bankruptcy.
The wholly owned subsidiary of the listed Bergen Group offshore and maritime solutions provider blamed the move on a lack of new orders and weakening results, the parent company said in a statement.
“The company’s business has been related to pipe installations towards building of ships and deliveries for the offshore and onshore industry,” Bergen Group said in a statement. “Both the shipbuilding and offshore market have over the past year experienced cutbacks, which have had a strong negative impact.”
Bergen Group Skarveland’s non-audited figures for the first half of this year show a turnover of NOK32 million (USD3.89 million) and an operating loss of NOK9 million. Its headquarters are located at Sunde in Kvinnherad, in the western part of Norway. As of 31 August, the company had 70 permanent employees, Bergen Group said.
The start of the year has been challenging for Bergen Group, which on 28 August said its continuing operations generated revenues of NOK115 million and suffered a loss before depreciation and amortisation of NOK6 million.
“Profitability has not been satisfactory in 1H15,” the company noted. “This is mainly due to a weaker market in the oil and gas sector, a temporary lower activity towards the Norwegian defence, and weak profits in Bergen Group Skarveland AS.”
The group had an order backlog totalling NOK178 million at the end of June, which it considered a good platform for developing a profitable operation.
However, Bergen Group Hanøytangen, the group’s other business unit, has seen its liquidity situation strained due to lack of payments from the rig project Borgland Dolphin that was completed in the first quarter of the year. “A process is consequently initiated before the Arbitration Tribunal,” Bergen Group said on 28 August. “The claim is approximately NOK190 million, and the dispute will be processed by the Arbitration Court in 2Q16.”
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.
