Rig construction firm Songa Offshore said its troubled Category D development project remains on track, despite the firm posting new losses.
The Oslo-listed company launched a £260million refinancing bid at the New Year to fund the Category D project – which will see four tailor-made rigs being built for the North and Norwegian Seas.
The firm posted a full-year loss of £70million, with fourth-quarter losses of £81million – significantly down on 2012 but still behind analysts expectations.
Songa, which is in talks to sell its Songa Mercur and Songa Venus rigs, said took a £43million hit due to impairment charges relating to the rigs during the last three months.
“The company has during the quarter completed a comprehensive refinancing to prepare for the delivery of the Cat D new buildings in 2014 and 2015,” said chief executive Bjørnar Iversen.
“The Cat D project is progressing well, both in respect of delivery and costs. We are also very satisfied with the operation of our existing fleet.
“The company’s five rigs had excellent operational uptime during the fourth quarter, with an average of 99.8% operating efficiency.”