Standard Chartered News

Swedbank has signed the Poseidon Principles, a global framework for integrating climate considerations into lending decisions within ship financeThe Poseidon Principles provide a standardised methodology for data collection and reporting of emissions from banks’ shipping portfolios, with the overall ambition of supporting and facilitating the decarbonization of the shipping industry.The Poseidon Principles are consistent with the policies and ambitions of the IMO, including its…

If shipping is the beating heart of global trade, its pulse is about to get slower. Faced with uncertainty about which fuels to use in the long term to cut greenhouse gas emissions, many shipping firms are sticking with aging fleets, but older vessels may soon have to start sailing slower to comply with new environmental rules.From next year, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) requires all ships to calculate their annual carbon intensity based on a vessel's emissions…

A Singapore trade data sharing platform backed by banks, commodity houses and state firms has signed up 70 participants as part of the city-state's attempts to bolster confidence after a spate of commodity trade finance frauds in recent years.The Singapore Trade Data Exchange (SGTraDex), whose founders include banks DBS and Standard Chartered, commodity trader Trafigura and the local tech regulator, Infocomm Media Development Authority, was launched on Wednesday after plans were announced last year."We're trying to replicate what's happening in the physical world…

Banks are demanding much stricter environmental criteria when financing shipping companies as investor pressure grows on the sector to accelerate going greener, according to Boston Consulting Group (BCG).Shipping, which transports about 90% of world trade, accounts for nearly 3% of the world's CO2 emissions and BCG forecast the industry will need $2.4 trillion to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050."ESG-driven requests are already prompting more action from banks. Shipping is already feeling it and they (shipping companies) are under pressure now…

Commodities trader Trafigura Beheer has become the first company to offer a defined Covid premium on an Asian syndicated loan, paying up to an extra 20bp all-in on its latest US$1bn-equivalent financing.The novel pricing structure is a first for Asia, if not globally, and could set a precedent for other price-sensitive borrowers looking to limit the long-term effects of the pandemic on their funding costs.Without the Covid premiums, the terms of Trafigura's new deal are little…

UAE global port operator DP World has launched a $9 billion financing into a targeted syndication process involving less than 10 banks, according to banking sources.The financing, which backs the borrower's privatization, was expected to sell down in a general syndication, but instead DP World decided to offer the deal to a select group of relationship banks.“(The deal is) going out to less than ten relationship banks that have already showed interest in the deal but were unable to join in the senior phase…

Revenue of Topaz Energy and Marine of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the six-month period of 2019 was $235 million, an increase of 56% compared to H1 2018.Dubai-based offshore vessel operator’s first-half net income also surged to $42 million from a $4m loss recorded at the end of first six months of 2018.Earnings before interest taxes, depreciation and amortization rose by 83 percent to $141m in the first half.The global ports operator DP World acquired Topaz from Oman's Renaissance Services and Standard Chartered's private equity arm for an enterprise value of $1.08 billion (Dh3.96bn) in July.“DP World recognizes the success we have achieved and wants us to continue to deliver that going forward.

Port operator DP World plans to raise at least $700 million through conventional and Islamic bond issues on Thursday, documents issued by banks involved in the deal showed.Majority owned by the Dubai government, DP World plans to issue benchmark sukuk with a 10-year maturity. Benchmark bonds are generally meant to be over $500 million.The Islamic paper is being marketed with an initial guidance of around 230 basis points over mid-swaps.Barclays, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank…

Industry leaders and non-profit the Sustainable Shipping Initiative announced the launch of the Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative’s (SRTI) online platform - a tool for sharing information on ship recycling to drive responsible practice.According to a press release, the platform comes nine months after a group of shipping companies first announced their collective effort to use the market-drivers that transparency brings to make responsible ship recycling the norm. Demanding transparency holds the shipping industry to account, raising the bar for current practice as well as creating fair competition among ship-owners.In 2017, 835 ships were recycled out of a world fleet of 50,000.

Geneva-headquartered energy and commodities trader Vitol has signed an US$8bn loan refinancing of credit facilities agreed in October 2016, the company announced on Wednesday. The revolving credit facility, which is used for working capital and general corporate purposes, comprises a three-year tranche and a 364-day tranche. The three-year tranche totals over US$7bn. ABN AMRO Bank, Commerzbank, Credit Agricole CIB, HSBC Bank and ING Bank were active bookrunners on the transaction. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, MUFG, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Lloyds Bank, Mizuho Bank, Natixis, Rabobank, Societe Generale, Standard Chartered Bank, SMBC and UniCredit Bank were mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners.

Cargotec Corporation entered into an EUR 300 million multicurrency revolving credit facility with a syndicate of its six relationship banks on 26th June.    The facility carries a tenor of five years including two one-year extension options. The purpose of this facility is to refinance the existing EUR 300 million multicurrency revolving credit facility, maturing in January 2019.    With this facility, Cargotec strengthens its long-term liquidity and takes advantage of the favourable market conditions.   The facility was coordinated by SEB and the Mandated Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners are Citi, Danske Bank, Nordea Bank, OP Corporate Bank, SEB (Facility Agent) and Standard Chartered Bank.

Standard Chartered said on Tuesday it had completed three shipping deals worth more than $1.6 billion in recent months.   The deals include in December a $684.5 million up to 12-year facility for BW Gas JuJu LNG, a joint venture between BW Group and Japan's Marubeni. In November, the bank also structured a $350 mln Islamic facility for National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri). The month before it closed a $572 mln loan to subsidiaries of India's Reliance Group, the bank said in a statement.   Reporting by Tom Arnold

Excelerate Energy announced it has completed the long-term sale and leaseback of the FSRU Experience with a wholly owned subsidiary of CMB Financial Leasing Co. Upon completion of the 10-year agreement, Excelerate will re-purchase the FSRU from CMB. The transaction demonstrates the market’s confidence in FSRUs as financeable and dependable assets and positions Excelerate well for future financings as part of its growth strategy. The agreement enables the swap of short-term debt for long-term debt at the ultimate shareholder level, and leaves Excelerate with a strong balance sheet and a debt-to-book equity ratio of roughly 1:1. Excelerate is wholly owned by George B. Kaiser. Standard Chartered Bank acted as advisor to Excelerate.

Bahrain LNG, the developer of the Gulf state’s receiving and regasification terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG), has closed a $741 million syndicated loan for the platform’s construction. The private-public partnership  is being developed to supplement local gas production in Bahrain and ensure capacity to meet peak seasonal gas demand and industrial growth. Financing a project of this size and complexity is a landmark in the regional financial markets. According to the company, nine banks were lending the $741mn it will cost to build the plant and related infrastructure, capable of handling 800 million standard cubic feet per day when complete in 2019. The project includes a nitrogen facility, to lower the calorific value of imports as needed.

National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri), the exclusive oil-shipper for Saudi Aramco, said on Wednesday it had signed a $350 million Islamic 10-year financing deal to pay for the building of five oil tankers. The 10-year murahaba financing was arranged by Standard Chartered, which also contributed to the deal along with Arab National Bank and National Bank of Abu Dhabi, it said. A murabaha is a cost-plus-profit arrangement which complies with Islamic finance standards. The tankers were previously ordered from South Korea's Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co. (Reporting by Reem Shamseddine; Writing by Tom Arnold)

Company blames softer market conditions; plan to add 1.5 mln TEU to Terminal 3 delayed into 2017. DP World, one of the world's largest port operators, is delaying the expansion of Dubai's Jebel Ali port, its main facility, because of softer market conditions, the company said on Thursday. A plan to add 1.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEU) of annual capacity to Terminal 3 at Jebel Ali will be delayed into 2017, while expansion of Terminal 4 will also be slowed, DP World said without giving details. The company had announced in July 2015 that it would invest $1.6 billion in Terminal 4, which was to be completed by 2018. Jebel Ali handles shipments not only for the United Arab Emirates but for much of the region.

On July 15, 2016, Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT) signed a syndicated loan facility worth AUD 398 million (approximately USD 300 million) with seven leading global financial institutions, namely: Citibank N.A., KFW IPEX-Bank, Standard Chartered Bank as Mandated Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners, Bank of China Limited, DBS Bank Ltd., Investec Bank PLC as Mandated Lead Arrangers, and Cathay United Bank as Lead Arranger. The facility provides significant financial flexibility with long-dated tenors of 7, 10, and 16 years. Finnvera, the Finland based export credit agency, also participated in the transaction by providing a guarantee for a portion of the facility.

Oil investors are finally buying into the notion that the biggest risk to the price now is likely to be supply falling short of demand, rather than from any stubborn overhang of unwanted crude, the options market shows. The price of Brent crude has hit $52 a barrel, virtually double January's near-13-year lows, driven primarily by a decline in global production that has been speedy enough to bring supply and demand into line faster than many had anticipated. "In the end, you will see global oversupply, at some point diminish, and in effect even earlier than speculators realise," ABN Amro chief energy strategist Hans van Cleef said. In the last year, nearly a million barrels per day (bpd) have vanished from higher-cost U.S.

International Container Terminal Services, Inc.’s (ICTSI) US$450 million perpetual capital securities issue was recently recognized as the Philippines’ best corporate bond at the The Asset Triple A Country Awards 2015.  ICTSI issued last August the well-structured perpetual securities that were arranged by Citi, Credit Suisse and Standard Chartered.  The issuance generated more than US$1.8 billion of demand from banks, institutional investors and private banking accounts. Rafael D. Consing Jr., ICTSI Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, accepted the award during the The Asset Triple A Country Awards 2015 dinner at the Harbour View Ballroom of the Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong last 12 January 2016.

Topaz Energy and Marine, an offshore support vessel company, announced a new $550 million facility. The facility is arranged over three tranches. The first is a conventional and Islamic senior secured, term loan of $350 million over seven years which will be used principally to repay existing senior debt. The second is a senior secured, conventional and Islamic Revolving Credit Facility of $100 million over five years and the third tranche is a senior unsecured conventional and Islamic term loan of $100 million, both of which will be used to fund growth capex. The new facility significantly lowers Topaz’s finance costs. The facility will also extend the maturity of Topaz’s debt profile over the next seven years from its previous profile of four years.

Philippines port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) said on Wednesday it is raising $450 million through a bond issue. In a disclosure to the local stock exchange, ICTSI said its board of directors approved on Tuesday night the offering of new senior perpetual capital securities through subsidiary Royal Capital BV. (http://bit.ly/1hLsASV) The corporate bonds would yield 5.5 percent per annum and would be guaranteed by ICTSI. Citigroup Global Markets Ltd, Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Ltd and Standard Chartered Bank were the joint lead managers and bookrunners. ICTSI, owned by the Philippines' third richest man, Enrique Razon, is into 30 terminal concessions and port development projects in 20 countries. (Reporting By Neil Jerome Morales

ABS announced its participation in the World Shipping (China) Summit 2015, November 5-6, in Guangzhou, China, where ABS Senior Vice President and Chief Technology officer Howard Fireman spoke about changes in the global shipping industry. In his presentation in the morning Shipping Outlook Session on  November 6, Fireman shared his view of the issues industry will be addressing over the next few years. "Nobody can deny we are navigating through a challenging period in our industry," he said, "and this scenario will likely continue for some time.

Acquiring ships from financially troubled shipping companies will remain one of the mainstay jobs handled by South Korean finance house Korea Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO) next year, reports Korea Times. The company has bought 33.3 billion won worth of assets from two SMEs in the January-October period and plans to acquire assets valued at 40 billion won from two to three SMEs by December, a move to give relief to financially troubled companies, KAMCO Chairman Hong said in a press conference on Dec. After consulting with the Financial Services Commission (FSC), KAMCO has earmarked 100 billion won in its budget this year for acquisition of properties or other assets held by debt-laden SMEs in order to help them stay afloat, the state company said.