Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port Group (NCSP Group) announces that on 25 November 2013 it signed an agreement to change certain conditions of its US$ 1.950 million loan with Sberbank.
NCSP CEO Yuri Matvienko said: “The fact that we have reached an agreement with Sberbank is an exceptionally important event for the Group. The new conditions we have agreed to represent a significant improvement, and grant us more comfort in debt management.
“We were able to decrease the interest rate starting from 19 January 2014, to restructure the repayment schedule, and to significantly lighten the covenant requirements, including raising the net debt/EBITDA threshold and ending EBITDA/interest cover testing.”
Under the signed agreement: from 19 January 2014 the interest rate will be reduced to a floating rate of LIBOR 3M + 5.0% instead of the originally agreed fixed rate of 7.48%; the loan repayment schedule has been restructured: the loan will be repaid by regular installments every six months starting in June 2014; the amount of repayments in 2014–2017 was reduced compared to the previous schedule; installments will increase towards the end of the loan period, with a final balloon payment equivalent to 40% of the total indebtedness to be made on the last day of the agreement – 18 January 2018.
Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port (NCSP Group) is Russia’s largest port operator in terms of cargo turnover. 50.1% shares of NCSP belong to Novoport Holding Ltd, the beneficial owners of which are OJSC Transneft and Summa Group. The Group comprises the following stevedoring companies: Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port OJSC, Primorsk Commercial Port, Novorossiysk Grain Terminal OJSC, Novorossiysk Ship Repair Yard OJSC, NCSP Fleet OJSC, Novoroslesexport OJSC, IPP OJSC, Baltic Stevedore Company LLC and SFP CJSC. In 2012, the Group’s throughput gained 1.2% to 158.9 mln tonnes. The Group’s consolidated IFRS revenue was $1,034 mln, EBITDA - $591.5 mln.