NCSP agrees amendments to agreement on $1.95 bln loan from Sberbank
MOSCOW. Nov 28 (Interfax) - Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port (NCSP) has reached agreement with Sberbank of Russia on changes to the terms of a loan totaling $1.95 billion, NCSP said.
NCSP signed the agreement with Sberbank on November 25.
Under the agreement, the loan interest rate will change to three-month LIBOR+5% annually beginning on January 19, 2014, in place of the originally stipulated 7.48% annually.
The agreement also restructures the repayment schedule: beginning in June 2014, loan payments will be made in regular tranches every six months. Their size in 2014-2017 has been reduced compared with the original repayment schedule.
The payment amount will gradually increase. A final balloon payment equal to 40% of the loan amount is due on the maturity date, January 18, 2018.
Finally, the changes "significantly lighten the covenant requirements, including raising the net debt/EBITDA threshold and ending EBITDA/interest cover testing," NCSP CEO Yury Matvienko is quoted in the press release as saying.
"The new conditions we have agreed to represent a significant improvement, and grant us more comfort in debt management," Matvienko said.
Sberbank made the seven-year loan to NCSP in early 2011. The proceeds were used to finance purchase of 100% of Primorsk Commercial Sea Port LLC.
The NCSP Group is the biggest port holding company in Russia. Novoport Holding, which is owned 50-50 by Transneft and Summa, has 50.1% of shares. Rosimushchestvo has 20% and Russian Railways (RZD) manages a 5.3% stake.