Costamare wraps up refinancing efforts with $140 million worth of loans

Athens-based owner and provider of containerships for charter Costamare has concluded its refinancing program launched at the beginning of this year, securing a total of over $435 million in new loans since January.

The conclusion of the refinancing efforts has been marked with the execution of the latest two loans worth a total of $140 million.

The refinancing program has enabled the company to extend debt maturities of about $240 million.

“The latest transactions form part of our strategy of proactively managing our balance sheet and liquidity position, ensuring a smooth debt repayment profile. As a result of the latest financing arrangements we have no meaningful debt maturities until 2024,” Gregory Zikos, Chief Financial Officer of the company said.

To remind, two financial agreements worth $95 million were secured in February this year, with unnamed European financial institutions covering five containerships, followed by a $70 million loan refinancing deal in April.

For the first quarter, the company delivered profitable results, reporting contracted revenues of $2.1 billion and a net Income of $32.8 million.

During the quarter, Costamare chartered in total 12 ships, including three 11,000 TEU vessels, which were chartered for periods ranging from one to three years.

“As has always been the case, but especially during today’s unprecedented times, our top priority is to cover our downside; building upon that, we will continue to monitor the market and assess new initiatives in order to bolster our balance sheet and liquidity position, while at the same time evaluating new opportunities in a volatile market environment,” Zikos said commenting on the impact of COVID-19 on the company’s performance in Q1.

Costamare has a fleet of 75 containerships, with a total capacity of approximately 538,000 TEU, including five newbuild containerships currently under construction.