Ship Finance International Limited - Reclassification of Balance Sheet
September 30 2004 - 4:13PM
PR Newswire (US)
Ship Finance International Limited - Reclassification of Balance
Sheet HAMILTON, Bermuda, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ship
Finance International Limited (NYSE: SFL, "Ship Finance" or the
"Company"), a subsidiary of Frontline Ltd. (NYSE: FRO,
"Frontline"), was incorporated in Bermuda in October 2003 for the
purpose of acquiring certain of the shipping assets of Frontline.
In the first quarter of 2004, Ship Finance acquired a fleet of 47
oil tankers (including one purchase option for a VLCC) from
Frontline and has chartered each of the ships back to Frontline for
substantially most of their remaining lives. As each of the
Company's vessels completes its original charter in place at
January 1, 2004, the leases with Frontline, entered into on January
1, 2004, become effective for accounting purposes. The balance
sheets included in our interim financial statements included in our
earnings release for the quarter ended March 31, 2004 submitted to
the U.S. S.E.C. on Form 6-K on June 2, 2004 and our earnings
release for the six months ended June 30, 2004 submitted to the
U.S. S.E.C. on Form 6-K on August 24, 2004 (the "Initial Interim
Financial Statements") have been restated in connection with our
accounting for these leases. In our interim financial statements
for the six months ended June 30, 2004 included in our Registration
Statement on Form F-1 submitted to the U.S. SEC on September 28,
2004 the Company has accounted for the difference between the net
book value of the vessels, originally transferred to the Company by
Frontline at January 1, 2004 at Frontline's historical carrying
value, and the net investment in finance leases, as a deferred
deemed equity contribution. The difference of $85.0 million is
presented as a reduction in the net investment in finance leases in
the balance sheet. This results from the related party nature of
both the original transfer of the vessel and the subsequent finance
lease. The deferred deemed equity contribution is amortized as a
credit to equity over the life of the new lease arrangement as
lease payments are applied to the unamortized balance of the net
investment in finance lease. In the six months ended June 30, 2004
the Company has accounted for $1.4 million of such deemed equity
contributions. In the Initial Interim Financial Statements, the
full amount of the $85.0 million difference between the net book
value of the vessel and the net investment in finance leases was
recognized immediately in equity. The reclassification of the
deferred deemed equity contribution described above has occurred
following a review by the Company its external auditors in
connection with the filing of the Form F-1. The reclassification of
the balance sheet has no impact on the past or future results of
operations or cashflows of the Company. The initial equity
contribution to the Company of $525.0 million is also unaffected by
the reclassification. Kate Blankenship +1 44 1295 6935 DATASOURCE:
Ship Finance International Ltd. CONTACT: Kate Blankenship of Ship
Finance International Ltd., +1 44 1295 6935 Web Site:
http://www.shipfinance.org/
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