November 14 - The debt-ridden shipping firm STX Pan Ocean has reported a huge net loss of USD399.07 million in the third quarter of 2013, compared with a loss of USD88.57 million at the same time in 2012.

Revenue plunged by a staggering 80 percent year-on-year to USD237.74 million in the period ended September 30, 2013. Year to date the shipping company has run up a net loss of USD490.7 million.

The company went into receivership in June of this year after incurring debts of more than USD4.8 billion, largely due to over-expansion during the economic boom and the subsequent freight market downturn, and so far has been unable to show any sign of turnaround.

STX Pan Ocean said that pressure on the global shipping market due to severe overcapacity is expected to ease as deliveries of new ships slow down, noting that new deliveries during the third quarter were down 41.4 percent year-on-year at 12.08 million dwt.

In October, STX Corporation sold 13.9 million shares in STX Pan Ocean to the Korea Development Bank (KDB), increasing the KDB's stake in the company to 14.99 percent, and reducing STX Corporation's from 10.3 to 3.55 percent.

KDB decided against buying the company from the debt-ridden STX Group in June, but stock investors have predicted an eventual takeover of the dry bulk operator by the South Korean bank.

www.stxpanocean.com

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