Hellenic Carries Limited Announces Continuation of its Fleet Renewal and Expansion Program - Signing of New Building Contracts.

News Release Hellenic Carriers Limited June 30, 2010

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Hellenic Carriers Limited
Press Release 30 June 2010
Continuation of Fleet Renewal and Expansion Program – Signing of
New Building Contracts
Hellenic Carriers Limited, (“Hellenic” or the “Company”) (AIM:
HCL), an international provider of
marine transportation services for dry bulk cargoes, announces
that two of its newly formed
subsidiaries have entered into shipbuilding contracts with
Zhejiang Ouhua Shipbuilding Co Ltd
(The “Shipyard”) of China for the construction of two 82,000 dwt
Kamsarmax vessels (the
“Vessels”). Each of the Vessels will cost USD $34.2m in total
(contract price of US$34m each
plus US$200,000 in respect of additions to the basic
specification) with delivery of the first
vessel scheduled for January 2013 and the second vessel for March
2013.
In addition, the Shipyard has granted an option to be declared by
1 September 2010 for a third
82,000 dwt Kamsarmax vessel on the same terms as the Vessels (the
“Optional Vessel”) and
with delivery in May 2013.
Payment for the Vessels will be made in stages, with the initial
instalment amounting to 30% of
the contract price due after signing and receipt of the relevant
refund guarantees, the second
10% instalment payable 3 months thereafter and the remaining 60%
payable on delivery. The
pre-delivery instalments will be funded from the Company’s cash
reserves. The Company
intends to secure 60 – 65% bank financing to be drawn upon
delivery of the vessels and is
already in discussions with banks that have expressed interest in
providing financing.
Fotini Karamanlis, Chief Executive Officer commented: “Continuing
with our fleet renewal and
expansion program, which was initiated in early June 2010 through
the sale of an older
Panamax vessel, I am pleased to announce today the signing of
shipbuilding contracts for two
Kamsarmax vessels and one optional vessel with a reputable and
experienced shipyard in
China.
We believe that since the beginning of 2010 market conditions
placed a significant premium on
second hand vessels, relative to new buildings value proposition.
We have therefore taken
advantage of this opportunity by selling in June 2010, as already
announced, the M/V Hellenic
Breeze, a 17-year old Panamax vessel, at a gross price of $23.46
million and by placing orders
for larger and brand new vessels at $34 million each.
Through these investments we will expand our presence in the
Kamsarmax / Panamax class
vessels which are the workhorses of the dry bulk industry and have
exhibited operational
versatility, higher resilience, and stronger returns compared to
the other vessel classes within
the dry bulk sector.
At the same time, Hellenic remains well-positioned to further
exploit growth opportunities in a
prudent and timely manner, by capitalizing on our healthy balance
sheet, our track record
throughout the shipping cycle and our ability to improve our
revenue and profit generation
capacity, with the view of enhancing shareholder value for the
long term.”</BODY></HTML>