Finance: Banking

Dry bulk shipowner Safe Bulkers (SB) announced that it was initiating a programme for issuing up to $23.5 million of shares, at the market, sometimes called an “ATM” offering.

At the beginning of 2020 lending to shipping by the world’s top 40 ship financers was at its lowest level in more than a decade and global ship finance is expected to remain constrained in 2020/2021 in the absence of new positive factors.

Banks are better prepared than in 2008, to face the challenges that are looming post-coronavirus but that an increase in non-performing loans is an inevitable as a result of the pandemic, according to XRTC Business Consultants.

Fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic has had a strong impact on banks and non-bank lenders to the shipping industry, and despite the ongoing upgrading of the Greek fleet lending to Greek shipowners remains pretty much steady.

Piraeus Bank, the leading and longstanding domestic lender to Greek shipping, has teamed up with Japanese finance house, Orix Group to provide loans to Greek shipowners.

AP Moller-Maersk has clinched a new sustainability-linked revolving credit facility of $5bn through a syndicate of 26 banks.

Bestway Marine & Energy Technology announced that has received court order for restructuring, but warns of the risk of bankruptcy if the restructuring fails.