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BETWEEN
December last year and January this year, Negros
Navigation Co. (Nenaco) sold two of its aging vessels,
proceeds of which will be used to pay its debts and
acquire newer ships.
According to court documents obtained by BusinessMirror,
the former shipping unit controlled by publicly listed
Metro Pacific Corp. was able to sell MV Princes of
Negros to Singapore-based Aston Pte Ltd. Built in 1972,
the ship, which has a cargo capacity of 4,494 gross
tons, was sold for about $1 million in January this
year.
Meanwhile, the MV St. Ezekiel Moreno, assembled in 1973
and can carry 5,342 tons of cargo, was sold for $1.67
million to Monrovia-based Seatime Maritime Corp.
A Manila
lower court, which has allowed Nenaco to temporarily put
off debt payments, approved the sale.
“Finding
the sale having been made pursuant to the court-approved
Rehabilitation Plan and the documents submitted are in
order, this court hereby confirms the above sale,” the
court said in its order.
Nenaco,
which was supposed to sell the vessels early last year,
still has to dispose of two more ships—the MV Mary the
Queen of Peace and MV San Lorenzo Ruiz.
“The
said shipping vessels already outgrew their respective
lifespans and are technically up for scrap. [These] are
not anymore profitable, such that losses from their
operations offset the income generated by other
profitable newer shipping vessels,” Nenaco said in its
filing.
The
company’s rehabilitation plan indicates that it needs to
dispose of its aging ships to operate more efficiently
and buy newer vessels.
In 2004,
a Manila court has allowed the company to temporarily
put off debt payments, estimated at P2.4 billion,
including P1 billion in bank loans. Its creditors
include the Export-Import Bank, Bank of Commerce,
Equitable-PCI Bank, Prudential Bank and Trust Co. and
Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co.
The
company owes another P1 billion to trade suppliers and
lessors of equipment and property and P400 million in
unpaid taxes to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
Last
year, Nenaco was sold to a holding company established
by its current management, led by Sulficio Tagud Jr.,
Nenaco’s president and chief executive Officer.
The
company’s available financial statements showed that for
the first six months of 2006, Nenaco’s losses reached
P235.93 million, bigger than the P54.55 million it lost
during the same period in 2005.
For the
second quarter of 2006 alone, it incurred P206.73
million in losses and missed revenue projections by more
than P28 million. |
