Norway’s Gram Car Carriers has refinanced one of its vessels at a lower interest rate in Japan.
The Oslo-listed owner said it has tapped an unnamed leading bank for $41m to fund the 6,700-ceu Viking Adventure (built 2015).
The deal was done on “competitive terms” matching the length of its charter to Japan’s K Line at $56,000 per day until mid-2028.
The coupon is the secured overnight financing rate (SOFR) plus 1.73%.
This compares to a margin of SOFR plus 4.26% under the previous lease financing, which was repaid earlier this year.
This funding was with CSSC Shipping in China. Gram Car Carriers used $30.5m to pay off this deal.
VesselsValue assesses the ship as worth $92m.
“We are pleased to welcome one of the premier banks in Japan in our banking group as we optimise our capital structure and cost base to maximise profit and shareholder returns,” said chief executive Georg Whist.
“Lower cost of debt, combined with a near-record revenue backlog built in a historically strong car shipping market, support long-term cash flow visibility and continued attractive dividend distributions,” he added.
Gram Car Carriers posted a big jump in earnings for the fourth quarter after rates hit all-time highs.
Time charter rates remained stable at record levels for most of 2023, before increasing to new record levels in the final three months due to continued strong demand and limited near-term open vessel supply, the Norwegian owner said.
The world’s third-largest tonnage provider of car carriers said net profit in the fourth quarter was $37.8m, against $9.9m in the same period of 2022.
Revenue climbed to $56.4m from $38.2m.
