Shares in Hanjin Shipping sank 30 per cent yesterday on growing concernabout the future of South Korea’s biggest container carrier as mounting debts and ballooning lossesforce it toward a creditor-led debt restructuring.

韩进海运(Hanjin Shipping)股价昨日暴跌30%，由于不断累积的债务和日益扩大的亏损迫使该公司走向债权人主导的债务重组，投资者越来越担忧这家韩国最大集装箱航运公司的未来。

The company’s shares plunged by the daily limit to a record low of Won1,825, intrading volume that was 11 times the daily average in the past six months.

该公司的股价昨日跌停，至1825韩元的历史新低，成交量为过去六个月每日均值的11倍。

The slump came after Hanjin said on Friday it would file a request withits lenders yesterday to restructure its debt, which stood at nearly 850 percent of its equity at the end of last year. Hanjin has suffered net losses forfour consecutive years since 2011 as slowing global trade and overcapacity hasdepressed freight rates.

韩进海运在上周五表示，它将在本周一（即昨日）向债权人请求进行债务重组；去年底，该公司的债务与股本之比接近850%。随着全球贸易放缓，同时运力过剩压低运价，自2011年以来韩进海运已连续四年遭遇净亏损。

Parent Hanjin Group, one of South Korea’s biggest chaebols, provided aWon1tn lifeline to its shipping arm in 2013 but that has failed to turn roundthe lossmaking company amid a protracted industry slump. Hanjin Shipping hasWon400bn ($349m) of bonds maturing in 2016, including Won235bn due in June, butit had only Won241bn of cash on hand at the end of last year.

母公司韩进集团(Hanjin Group)是韩国最大的财阀之一，曾在2013年向旗下航运部门提供1万亿韩元的生命线，但在航运业持久低迷的背景下，未能使韩进海运扭亏为盈。韩进海运有4000亿韩元（合3.49亿美元）的债券在2016年到期，其中2350亿韩元将在6月到期，但该公司在去年底只有2410亿韩元现金。

Its domestic rival Hyundai Merchant Marineis also under voluntary debt restructuring with creditors, after reportinglosses in five of the past seven years. Creditors in March agreed to extend thematurity of HMM’s debt for three months, and trading in the company’s shares hasbeen halted since April 20 during a capital reduction. Trading is set to resumeon May 6.

其国内竞争对手现代商船(HyundaiMerchant Marine)在过去七年中有五年出现亏损，目前也在与债权人进行自愿性的债务重组。3月，债权人同意把现代商船债务的到期日延长三个月；同时为了进行减资操作，该公司股票自4月20日起停牌。目前定于5月6日复牌。

Hanjin Shipping’s shares fell more than 7 per cent on Friday and havetumbled more than 60 per cent over the past six months. Analysts said theirsmaller scale made it tougher for South Korean shippers to weather the severedownturn, noting global competitors such as Maersk were in relatively bettershape due to economies of scale and alliances.

韩进海运的股价上周五下跌逾7%，过去六个月累计下滑60%以上。分析师们表示，规模较小使韩国航运企业更难抵御严重低迷。他们指出，全球竞争对手如马士基(Maersk)境况相对较好，得益于规模经济效应和联盟。

“They have to cut costs to cope with low shipping rates but their unitcosts are higher than those of their global rivals because of their smallerscale,” said Jay Ryu, an analyst at KDB Daewoo Securities. “The industry cycleis bad but their structural weaknesses make things worse for them.”

“他们必须削减成本以应对运价低企，但他们的单位成本高于全球竞争对手，因为他们的规模较小，”KDB大宇证券(KDB Daewoo Securities)分析师Jay Ryu表示。“行业周期相当糟糕，但他们的结构性弱点使他们的处境更加糟糕。”