Wintermar Offshore seeks US$30 million loans

PT Wintermar Offshore Marine Tbk, a listed marine support company, is in talks with a number of foreign banks for a possible loan of up to US$30 million to buy a number of vessels, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Wednesday.

Head of Corporate Planning Department Pek Swan Layanto said that the loans would be needed if Wintermar manages to win offshore oil and gas tender.

?Talks (with the banks) are not yet final. The loans are to anticipate if Wintermar wins tender it participates. So it will be disbursed if there is certainty (the company) wins the tender,? Pek Swan said.

He said the types of vessels that the company will buy are utility vessels or fast utility vessels to transport crews and goods worth around $5 million each as well as anchor handling tug supply vessel worth around $20 million.

The company is currently taking part in 42 project tenders valued at $320 million. In the period of January to May, the company won 23 tenders worth $104 million.

Pek Swan said the company aims to seek a total of $70 million through the end of this year to purchase a total of 12 units of new vessels. The company plans for a total capital expenditure of $100 million for this year.

Early this year, the company has secured loan from Bank Mandiri worth $27 million that was used to purchase a number of vessels. The loan has a tenor of five years with interest of eight percent per annum.

In the first six months to June, Wintermar booked net profit of Rp78.62 billion, up 67.63 percent compared to the same period last year at Rp46.9 billion, while sales stood at Rp472.23 billion, up 74.7 percent from the same period last year at Rp270.3 billion. (*)