National Australia Bank News

Australia's Port of Newcastle has signed a A$515 million ($398 million) loan with National Australia Bank (NAB) that links interest payments to non-mandatory social and environmental targets, the companies said.The world's largest coal port will pay less if certain targets are met, including reducing its direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions and screening all customers for modern slavery risks, they said in a joint statement.The loan also contains metrics focused on mental health first aid…

 China's iron ore futures erased earlier losses to end flat on Thursday, regaining support as miner Vale SA said it may temporarily halt activities at its Malaysian distribution center as a safety measure against the coronavirus pandemic.Iron ore's most-traded contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange steadied at 678 yuan ($95.76) a tonne, after tumbling 5.8% earlier in the session.On the Singapore Exchange, the front-month iron ore contract trimmed losses to just 0.3% in afternoon trade from 4.1% earlier in the day.Iron ore supplier Vale said on Wednesday its Malaysian distribution center may

Euronav NV announces has signed a new USD 410 million senior secured amortizing revolving credit facility. The facility has been made available on 16 December 2016 for the purpose of refinancing 11 vessels as well as Euronav’s general corporate and working capital purposes. The credit facility was used to refinance the USD 500 million senior secured credit facility dated 25 March 2014 and will mature on 31 January 2023 carrying a rate of LIBOR plus a margin of 2.25%. Hugo De Stoop, CFO of Euronav said: “This new facility will provide a lot of flexibility for Euronav. It is a full revolving credit facility replacing a term loan, it has a lower margin (50 bps lower) than the facility it is refinancing, and it has a much longer maturity.

Tanker shipping company Euronav NV announced it has signed a new $410 million senior secured amortizing revolving credit facility. The facility has been made available on December 16, 2016 for the purpose of refinancing 11 vessels as well as Euronav’s general corporate and working capital purposes. The credit facility was used to refinance the $500 million senior secured credit facility dated March 25, 2014 and will mature on January 31, 2023 carrying a rate of LIBOR plus a margin of 2.25 percent. Hugo De Stoop, CFO of Euronav said, “This new facility will provide a lot of flexibility for Euronav. It is a full revolving credit facility replacing a term loan, it has a lower margin (50 bps lower) than the facility it is refinancing, and it has a much longer maturity.

Traders shut short positions ahead of Brent expiry. Crude oil prices reversed early losses on Friday, with Brent on track for its first weekly gain in a month, as strong U.S. gasoline demand and hopes of OPEC action outweighed concerns over fundamental oversupply. Brent crude futures were trading at $36.09 a barrel at 1100 GMT, up 80 cents from their last close and an intra-day low of $34.73. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 75 cents at $33.82. The gains, if they hold, would mark the third consecutive daily increase for Brent and the fifth for U.S. benchmark WTI. Traders said that the rises were driven by short positions closed ahead of Brent's expiry next week and by strong demand for gasoline in the United States.

Brent crude dropped below $98 a barrel on Thursday, falling for the sixth straight session, as worries about ample supply and weak demand, which have dragged prices to 17-month lows, outweighed geopolitical concerns in the Middle East. The market was concerned about the impact of the expansion of U.S. military action, with its plans for air strikes in Syria and more attacks in Iraq, on the latter's oil output, said Phin Ziebell, economist at the National Australia Bank in Melbourne. "More broadly, it's one of supply with the U.S. boosting output from unconventional sources, while demand is pretty flat," Ziebell said. Brent climbed in…

Brent crude fell below $104 a barrel on Thursday, after briefly bouncing off a 13-month low the previous day, on ample supplies and concerns about weak demand despite the ongoing political turmoil in Iraq and Ukraine. * Coming up: U.S. Oil exports from Libya's Ras Lanuf port have resumed after a year of blockades by armed protesters, while U.S. crude stocks unexpectedly rose last week. September Brent crude fell 48 cents to $103.80 a barrel by 0655 GMT. The contract, expiring on Thursday, fell to $102.37 on Wednesday, its weakest since July 2013. U.S. crude was down 46 cents at $97.13 a barrel. "The supply outlook has been pretty rosy. OPEC production has been pretty good. Supply in Iraq is unaffected," said Phin Ziebell, economist at the National Australia Bank (NAB).

On Nov. 6, Odfjell sold MT Bow Sky with a net gain of $32m. Odfjell has been working on ways of strengthening their equity since the Norwegian retroactive tax was imposed last year. This process has been hindered by the impact of the financial crises. Despite the difficult financial markets, Odfjell announced the sale of MT Bow Sky(40,005dwt/built 2005) with an eleven year charter back. The transaction is entered into with a subsidiary of nabCapital, the institutional banking and capital markets division of National Australia Bank Limited. The ship will be delivered to its new owner in November. The ship will continue in the Odfjell Tankers Pool and will continue to be managed by Odfjell. (www.odfjell.com)

Now that British Telecommunications' jumbo $10 billion global bond issue is out of the way, Australian Telstra's offshore issues, clear losers in recent sessions, can expect a slight reprieve, analysts said on Wednesday. But while their spreads were unlikely to narrow much near-term, buying opportunities were emerging for medium to longer term investors, said National Australia Bank's senior analyst Phillip Strano. Telstra's offshore issues not only offered considerable margin pick-up over comparable domestic issues, but also superior credit protection over many of its European counterparts, Strano said. For example, the telco's U.S. dollar issue due 2005 was trading at around 80 basis points over swap while its domestic 2006 issue was trading at some 50 basis points.

Australia's largest marine towage group Adsteam Marine Ltd. has agreed to buy Howard Smith Ltd's Australian and U.K. towage businesses for A$500 million. "The transaction is in line with Adsteam Marine's previously stated objective of using strategic international acquisitions to grow its harbor services operations into a global business," David Ryan, Adsteam's managing director said. The purchase would double Adsteam's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) and enhance its earnings per share before goodwill in the first full year of operations. Howard Smith said around A$250 million of the sale proceeds would be used to fund share buybacks both on- and off-market, and the balance would repay debt and fund potential acquisitions.