HCL.L Regulatory News (HCL)

25 Mar 2008 07:01

Hellenic Carriers Limited25 March 2008 For immediate release HELLENIC CARRIERS LIMITED SECURES LOAN FACILITY for its acquisitions andundrawn credit lines of up to US$150 million for further fleet expansion 25 March 2008 Hellenic Carriers Limited ("Hellenic" or the "Company") (AIM: HCL), aninternational provider of marine transportation services for dry bulk cargoes,announces that it has entered into a new loan facility with Piraeus Bank S.A. ofup to US$190 million (the "Piraeus Facility") and has accepted an offer from theNational Bank of Greece (the "NBG Offer Letter") for a loan facility of up toUS$120 million. The Piraeus Facility is to be drawn in two advances of US$110 million and US$80million respectively and is to be repaid quarterly over 8 years. It shall beutilized for the following purposes: A) The first advance for an amount up toUS$110 million will be used (i) to partly finance the cost of Hellenic's twoacquisitions, namely the M/V AEGEAN HAWK (a 50,300 dwt Supramax built 2000 to berenamed KONSTANTINOS D) and the M/V ORCHID STAR (a 74,000 dwt Panamax built1997 to be renamed), (ii) to fully refinance existing indebtednesspresently secured on the M/V HELLENIC SEA and the M/V HELLENIC BREEZE; B) Thesecond advance of up to US$80 million is designed to provide the Company with acredit facility available until 31st December 2010 to be used in the purchase ofadditional dry bulk vessels between 40,000 and 75,000 dwt built after 1995. The NBG Offer Letter is for a credit line up to US$70 million, which togetherwith the refinancing of the Company's existing debt to the National Bank ofGreece will result in a loan facility up to US$120 million in total, to berepaid quarterly within 8 years of drawdown. In particular, once the relevantloan documents are in place, the purpose of this facility will be (i) torefinance in full the existing indebtedness in the amount of approximatelyUS$50million presently secured on the MV Hellenic Sky and the MV HellenicHorizon and (ii) to provide the Company with additional credit of up to $70million to be used to finance up to 90% of the purchase price of a single drybulk vessel between 18,000 and 93,000 dwt built after 1994. This creditfacility is available until February 2009 and under certain conditions can beextended for a further year. Fotini Karamanlis, Chief Executive Officer of Hellenic, said: "We are verypleased that our Bankers are providing us with the capital to finance the twovessel acquisitions we have already agreed to, as well as with the flexibilityto further grow our company at very attractive terms. These financialarrangements constitute a competitive advantage for Hellenic at times of anacute credit crisis and manifest our credit worthiness as well as the excellentrelationships we enjoy with our Bankers." For further information please contact: Hellenic Carriers Limited Fotini Karamanlis, Chief Executive Officer E-mail: info@hellenic-carriers.com +30 210 455 8900 Jefferies International Limited Nick Davies +44 20 7029 8000 Schuyler Evans Capital Link Inc. Ramnique Grewal +1 212 661 7566 (New York) Vice President +44 20 7614 2950 (London) E-Mail: helleniccarriers@capitallink.com Further Information - Notes to Editors About Hellenic Carriers Limited Hellenic Carriers Limited owns and operates a fleet of dry bulk vessels thattransport iron ore, coal, grain, steel products, cement, alumina, and other drybulk cargoes worldwide. Its current fleet consists of four vessels, comprisingthree Panamaxes and one Handymax. The Company has also contracted to acquire aSupramax vessel with expected delivery between 1 March and 30 April 2008 and aPanamax vessel with expected delivery between 1 March and May 31 2008. Includingthe new Supramax and Panamax vessels to be delivered, Hellenic's fleet has anaggregate carrying capacity of 372,761 dwt and an average age of 12.9 years asof 29 February 2008. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange