DRYS defensive

George Economou has again defended DryShips’ failure to secure a waiver on massive debt of $1.8bn.

George Economou.

Economou insists Nasdaq-listed DryShips is well positioned to deal with the dive in dry-bulk fortunes despite auditors expressing doubts about the company’s future in its annual report today.

The report says the company’s inability to comply with financial covenants under its loan agreements, difficulties in meeting its financial needs and negative working capital “raised substantial doubts about its ability to continue as a going concern”.

However, in an unusual move, Economou issued a statement to clarify the situation.

He said: "With the proactive approach already taken to reduce $2bn in capital expenditures, the confidence of our three main lenders with whom we are in close ongoing discussions, secured revenues of over $2.4bn in the next three years from dry-bulk time charters and offshore drilling contracts and the recent equity infusion of $380m through the ATM Equity Offering(SM) share issuance programme, we have repositioned DryShips for the long-term and remain ahead of the curve."

Only last week Economou brushed off concerns about the time it is taking for DryShips to secure a waiver on its remaining debt during a conference call.

Pressed on why DryShips has taken longer than some listed rivals to secure a reprieve on the loans by Jefferies maritime research head Doug Mavrinac, Economou said: "It is not because we have been stuttering.

"We have been quite proactive and started discussions with the lenders in October and November last year. It is just that it is taking a lot of time because of the process involved. It is not that the company has been slow or is dragging its feet.”

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