STX Shipbuilding & Offshore, one of the three key units in the South Korean STX Business Group, has sought debt restructuring and saw its shares fall by 15% for second day in a row, media reports say.
”Through the debt restructuring agreement, we hope that creditors will roll over our maturing debts and provide some financial support, while we continue efforts to sell our assets,” STX was quoted by the Financial Times newpaper as saying.
STX Europe owns two shipyards in Finland and has a 66% stake in STX France with a yard in St Nazaire that, like the Finnish yards, build cruise liners and ferries.
The three principal units in the STX Business Group - STX Shipbuilding & Offshore, STX Pan Ocean and STX Corporation have KRW1.13 trillion (1KRW = 0.09USD) worth of bonds maturing this year, the Bloomberg news agency has reported. The group received no bids for a 36% stake in STX Pan Ocean, a bulk and tanker shipping company, it had put on the market, with bids closing on 29 March.
In Finland, economics and employment minister Jan Vapaavuori has called the situation of the STX Business Group as ”worrying, but not surprising.” STX employs 2,200 staff in at the two yards there.
