The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) has signed an agreement for a USD 133.2 million loan facility to finance the purchase of five chemical tankers, the company said in a stock exchange filing.
Namely, the company’s subsidiary, National Chemical Carriers, is set to receive the funds from Saudi Arabia’s Arab Petroleum investments Corporation (APICORP) and BNP Paribas.
Bahri added that the loan would be provided in the form of a murabaha facility for a 10-year period.
In July, the company signed an agreement with APICORP to launch a USD 1.5 billion APICORP Bahri Oil Shipping Fund (ABOSF) aimed at acquiring fifteen VLCCs.
Bahri earlier said that the fund would be realized in three phases with the total investments composed of debt and equity.
As the company expanded its fleet during the second quarter of 2016, Bahri saw its net profit for the period surge by 47.2 percent to SAR 504.1 million from SAR 342.4 million seen in the same period a year earlier. The increase was mainly attributed to a rise in operating revenues as a result of buying and receiving several VLCCs, as well as a rise in average Time Charter Equivalent (TCE) rate in crude oil transportation spot market.
During the first half of the year the company’s net profit increased by over 50 percent from SAR 740.8 million seen in the first half of 2015 to SAR 1.1 billion.
World Maritime News Staff