Ezion's loss widened 78.6% to $855.5m in 2019

The group is struggling to draw down the required funds from its lenders on time.

Offshore and marine group Ezion’s loss after income tax surged 78.6% to $855.5 (US$614.94m) in 2019, from $479.05m (US$344.34m) in 2018, the company announced. Revenue fell 23.9% to $125.67m (US$90.33m) over the same period.

In Q4, the group’s loss narrowed 57.2% YoY to $232.50m (US$167.12m), whilst revenue plunged 55.6% to $18.35m (US$13.19m).

The decline in revenue was attributed to a fall in utilisation and charter rates for its jack-up rigs, a drop in utilisation rates of liftboards due to continued delays in the redeployment of its assets, and the credit crunch faced by shipyards, equipment suppliers and service providers it used.

“The tighter credit terms imposed by these vendors coupled with the inability of the Group to drawdown the required funds from its secured lenders in a timely manner has severely affected the Group's ability to operate, maintain and deploy its assets,” the company said.

Further, the delays were blamed on working capital constraints that arose mainly from limited available financing options as lenders remained adverse to lending to their sector.

The group also recognised additional impairment losses of $31.16m (US$22.4m) on plant and equipment and trade and other receivables, as well as additional loss allowances for expected credit losses (ECL) on financial guarantees to joint ventures of $71.93m (US$51.7m) in Q4.