Piraeus Bank News

Greek tanker owner Performance Shipping announced on Monday it has taken delivery of a secondhand Aframax tanker it agreed to purchase in September 2022.The P. Monterey, formerly Phoenix Beacon, is a 105,525 dwt tanker built in 2011. It is equipped with a ballast water treatment system (BWTS), and its next scheduled special survey is not due until 2026.The vessel was acquired for a total purchase price of $35 million and partially financed through the recently announced term loan facility with Piraeus Bank S.A.Following the delivery, P. Monterey will commence a time charter contract with ST Shipping & Transport Pte Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Glencore, at a daily rate of $32,000 per day for a period of 24 months +/- 45 days at the option of the charterer.P.

A ship financier’s primary security is the mortgaged ship. If the ship becomes a total loss, the mortgage will provide no valuable security, leaving the financier to rely on its rights as assignee and loss payee (and occasionally as co-assured) under the shipowner’s marine insurance policies. However, the owner’s insurers may decline a claim, for example on grounds of breach of warranty or material non-disclosure, or because the loss is not covered by the policy, such as where the owner scuttles the mortgaged ship.

Piraeus Bank, one of Greece’s four largest lenders, said on Tuesday it had reached a deal to sell a portfolio of non-performing shipping loans to an entity affiliated with Davidson Kempner Capital Management.The agreed price will be about 53% of the portfolio’s gross book value of 400 million euros ($452 million), the bank said.The sale of the portfolio, dubbed project Dory, is subject to approval by the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund, a shareholder in Piraeus Bank, the lender said.The transaction will reduce Piraeus Bank’s ratio of non-performing exposures to about 15% from 16% at the end

Athens-based shipowner Performance Shipping said it reached a deal to purchase the Kalamas, a 105,400 dwt Aframax tanker built in 2011 by Sumitomo Heavy Industries Marine & Engineering Co. Ltd, Japan, from an unaffiliated third party seller for a total purchase price of $22 million. The vessel, the company’s fifth Aframax tanker, is expected to be delivered between November 15 and December 22, 2020, and will be renamed P. Yanbu.Upon delivery of the Kalamas, the cargo-carrying capacity of the company’s fleet will have increased by 23.9% to approximately 546,094 deadweight tons (dwt). The M/T Kalamas was built to high specification and has been retrofitted with a ballast water treatment system (BWTS), in compliance with the Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention.

Greece’s largest lender by assets Piraeus Bank is eyeing a strategic partnership with a major Asian Pacific financial conglomerate that will help it provide financing to Greek shipping companies."This pioneering initiative forms part of Piraeus Bank’s continued commitment to the shipping community, through investment of international capital into existing opportunities and new financing to the shipping industry," said a press release form the bank.The initiative aims at positioning Piraeus Bank at the forefront of servicing the needs of Greek shipping clients.Piraeus did not name the Asian partner. Piraeus Bank has not set a timeline for this process and there can be no assurance that a transaction will be entered into or consummated or…

A growing number of hedge funds are moving into shipping debt, an asset class few have invested in before, looking to buy up loans and bonds as banks cut their exposure to the troubled sector.World economy worries and cost pressures are dampening prospects for a proper recovery in many segments of the shipping sector, which has struggled with tough markets for a decade.Meanwhile European banks, particularly German lenders, are trying to offload distressed and performing loans…

Capital Product Partners  entered into a firm offer letter for a senior secured term loan facility of up to $460.0 million with HSH Nordbank AG and ING Bank as mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners and BNP Paribas and National Bank of Greece S.A. as arrangers. The lenders also include Alpha Bank S.A., Piraeus Bank S.A. and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (Publ). The closing of the credit facility is subject to finalization of the long form loan documentation. "We intend to use the net proceeds of the loans under the New Facility, together with available cash of approximately $120.6 million, to refinance, four out of five of our existing credit facilities amounting to $580.6 million in total," says a statement from the company.

Greece has received only one bid to build and run a new rail freight terminal outside Athens, a project it has been trying to get underway for years, the country's transport ministry said on Tuesday. The bid is from ETBA, a unit of Greece's Piraeus Bank which develops and manages industrial parks, in collaboration with Goldair, a domestic firm offering cargo and logistics services, the ministry said. The selected investor will build and operate the terminal at Thriasio for 60 years under a 250 million-euro ($280 million) investment plan which will create a new rail freight transport hub linking up with Greece's largest port of Piraeus.

Greece is still struggling to find investors for a rail freight hub that it has been trying to set up since 2008, sources close to the process said on Monday. China's COSCO had been expected to team up with other investors after the Greek government launched a new tender for the 250 million euro ($280 million) investment project last year, part of a bid to turn Greece to a European transhipment hub. Greece, which had to turn to its euro zone partners and the International Monetary Fund in 2010 for help in riding out a debt crisis, is still struggling to revive its economy. The selected investor will have to build a terminal with access to the national railway network and Greece's largest port in Piraeus and operate it for 60 years.

The overall Greek loans of Hellenic maritime companies and ship owners (drawn and committed but undrawn) rose to $64.019 billion by the end of 2014, 4.1% higher than the $61.498 billion of 2013. Petrofin Research in its latest annual research says that drawn loans are up by 2.85% and Commitments by 18.11%, the latter prompted by the high Greek newbuilding orders. Of the 5 Greek banks active in the shipping finance market, National Bank of Greece shows an increase by 7.33% and Aegean Baltic by 11.99%. The rest show minor decreases. Overall, Greek banks’ exposure is up by 3.17% to a total of $10,8 billion, reflecting the increased stability in 2014 for Greek banks. This increase is the first sign of a recovery, since 2008.

Greece's leading banks are considering offloading part of their portfolios of shipping debt worth billions of dollars in a bid to shore up their capital, according to banking and ship financing sources. Greece has secured an extension to its bailout from its European partners, but the danger of it unravelling and of Greece being pushed out of the euro zone still exists, raising the risk that Greek banks could face large deposit losses in the future to add to those they have already had. "There are several portfolios being shopped around at the moment, including shipping loans," one banking source said. The banker and a ship-finance source said such debt could be attractive for private equity players who have been scooping up distressed assets in shipping due to the sector downturn.

Greece-based NewLead Holdings Ltd. NewLead Holdings Ltd. ("NewLead")  announce that it has entered into an agreement with Piraeus Bank S.A. ("Piraeus Bank") to proceed with the sale of the two tanker vessels, Hiona and Hiotissa, for an aggregate amount of $57.0 million and to convert, subject to satisfaction of certain conditions precedent by the Company, $18.1 million debt into 22.1 million shares of NewLead's common stock. As a result of this transaction, NewLead will be released from all obligations under the Piraeus Bank credit facility. These transactions are expected to occur in the third quarter of 2012 and are subject to certain conditions.

DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS), a global provider of marine transportation services for drybulk cargoes and off-shore contract drilling oil services, announced on Feb. 3 that it has reached an in principle agreement with Piraeus Bank, to restructure its two loan facilities in the original aggregate principal amount of $220m with current outstanding $164.9m. As part of the restructuring, caused in large part by the failure of certain buyers to conclude the agreed purchase of three vessels, the basic terms will provide for: a waiver regarding financial and asset coverage covenants through January 1, 2011; an increased applicable margin; an amendment fee…

Hellenic Industrial Bank (ETBA) was outperforming the Athens bourse on expectations it will soon sell its majority stake in Skaramanga shipyards, analysts said. ETBA, which owns 51 percent of Hellenic Shipyards Skaramanga, said it would start negotiations with German shipyard HDW Werft, which was the highest bidder in the privatization of the shipyard. ETBA shares were up 3.81 percent to 6.00 euros at 1102 GMT, outperforming the Athens bourse's benchmark general index, which was down 0.92 percent, and the banking sector index which was down 1.45 percent. "Procedures concerning Skaramanga are being sped up, and this could accelerate the privatization of ETBA Bank as well," said Costas Vergos, analyst at Magna Trust Securities.

Hellenic Industrial Bank was outperforming the Athens bourse on Wednesday on expectations it will soon sell its majority stake in Skaramanga shipyards, analysts said. ETBA, which owns 51 percent of Hellenic Shipyards Skaramanga, said late on Tuesday it would start negotiations with German shipyard HDW Werft, which was the highest bidder in the privatization of the shipyard. ETBA shares were up 3.81 percent to $5.27, outperforming the Athens bourse's benchmark general index, which was down 0.92 percent, and the banking sector index, which was down 1.45 percent. "Procedures concerning Skaramanga are being sped up, and this could accelerate the privatization of ETBA Bank as well," said Costas Vergos, analyst at Magna Trust Securities.