Investor relations
At Danish Ship Finance, we seek to provide regular and adequate information about our company matters to our stakeholders. This is achieved through active and open dialogue with investors and analysts, through company announcements, financial and non-financial reports, newsletters, and information visible on our company website.
Rating and bonds
Under the Investment Directive, bonds issued by Danish Ship Finance or by Danish mortgage-credit institutions are considered “gilt-edged” bonds and designated as covered bonds. The stipulated rules that proceed from the bond issuance should be invested in assets that, during the whole period of validity of the bonds, can cover claims attached to the bonds.
Standard & Poor’s
Standard & Poor’s performs an ongoing credit assessment of Danish Ship Finance and has assigned the following ratings:
Bond rating
Issuer rating
Outlook
A
BBB+
Stable
Prospectuses
Pursuant to Danish legislation, covered bonds and ship mortgage bonds offered by Danish Ship Finance must be described in a published prospectus, which must be prepared in accordance with EU Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 and related to delegated acts for the purpose of providing information about the issued bonds. The rules on prospectuses came into force on July 1, 2017. Danish Ship Finance’s prospectus for covered bonds and ship mortgage bonds has been prepared as a base prospectus including final terms and conditions. The general terms and conditions for the bonds, a description of the bonds and of Danish Ship Finance are provided in the base prospectus. The specific terms and conditions for the individual bonds are set out in the final terms and conditions.
Base Prospectus for Danmarks Skibskredit A/S Bond Programme can be read below.
Bonds
Ship mortgage bonds are available through most Danish banks and broker firms. At Danish Ship Finance, we do not sell our bonds directly to private investors or other investors.
When issuing new bonds, Danish Ship Finance sells the bonds in large quantities to a bank or a broker firm, which then resells the bonds in the requested quantities to investors. Danish Ship Finance does not have to trade with or provide buying or selling prices to third parties.
Danish Ship Finance primarily issues bonds in the Danish market as bullet loan bonds. These loans are characterised by the borrower paying interest during the life of the bond loan, while the principal falls due for repayment on the date of expiry. Furthermore, the bond cannot usually be redeemed before the expiry date.
Bond types and depositing bonds
Covered Bonds
Bonds issued in Capital Center A. Capital Center A was established March 28, 2019.
Debenture bonds
Bonds issued before January 1, 2008. The bonds are, by definition, covered bonds (as defined by the CRD) until maturity, even though there is no requirement for regular compliance with loan values.
Ship mortgage bonds
Bonds issued after January 1, 2008, which do not qualify for the covered bond designation. All bonds issued by Danish Ship Finance are on the European Commission’s list of bonds meeting the gilt-edged requirements of Article 52(4) of the UCITS directive (the “Investment Directive”).
Danish Ship Finance offers to store bonds issued by the company if such bonds are registered with VP Securities (“securities register”).
Funding
At Danish Ship Finance, we base our lending operations on the ability and opportunities to attract stable and long-term loan capital. We obtain our funding primarily through the issuance of non-callable bonds. This provides some form of security, as we know when the bonds fall due for repayment.
We raise funding in advance of actual loan disbursements. Typically, the liquidity requirement is covered before or around the time when the loan offer is submitted to reduce dependence on prevailing market conditions. Proceeds from the funding are invested exclusively in high-security liquid assets. Investment in the specific asset types and counterparties are subject to Danish Ship Finance’s policies for financial risks and credit and counterparty risks.
Contact
Danske Bank A/S, New issues/Custody, phone no: +45 45 14 38 60.
Danske Bank A/S handles the management of Danish Ship Finance’s securities registers. The registers are kept separately from Danske Bank A/S’s other activities. The bondholders will not be charged any fee for the securities registers.
Bond series
Open series
Open series are bond series in which Danish Ship Finance regularly issues new bonds. Bonds issued in the same series share the same securities ID code, maturity, payment date(s), and nominal interest rate.
Closed series
If a bond series is closed, no further issuance will be made. However, existing bonds in the relevant series in the market will be available for market trading. All debenture bond series have been closed.
ECBC COVERED BOND LABEL
The bonds issued by Danish Ship Finance, which comply with the CRD requirements, are further eligible to carry the ECBC’s (European Covered Bond council) designation as Covered Bonds.
To comply with ECBC’s definition of Covered Bonds, Danish Ship Finance A/S is required to follow the national Danish guidelines on transparency. Under these requirements, Danish Ship Finance A/S publishes key account data and capital ratios on a biannual basis. These data are published in accordance with the publication of the annual- and biannual financial statements.