Costamare Shipping is expected to issue by mid-April a corporate bond on the Athens stock exchange (ATHEX), in a move seen upgrading the bourse, while also paving the way for other shipping companies to follow suit.
The Greek shipping company Costamare Shipping Co SA, owned by the Konstantakopoulos family (Costa Navarino, Hilton Athens etc.) and listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), has been preparing for the bond issue, the first from a shipping company which will be traded on the Greek stock exchange.
The amount raised will reach 100 million euros and will pave the way for other bond issues from shipping companies, sources tell BusinessDaily, as more shipping players of Greek interests are expected to complete similar bond issues.
According to sources familiar with the process, the funds to be raised by the Costamare Shipping Co S.A. will be used for ship purchases, while the same sources emphasize that this is a first, trial version, with the aim of opening a channel of communication between the company and the Greek market.
In terms of bond procedures, it is a complex version, with many parameters that need to be settled, as it is the first company to do so while being listed on the NYSE, having 73 ships scattered across the world. The issue will be implemented by a subsidiary of the company based in Cyprus, in order to facilitate the procedures.
Of course, it is a new bond that will upgrade the Greek capital market and, at the same time build a new relations ship between shipping companies and the Athens bourse.
Efforts by Costamare Shipping Co S.A. to issue a bond on ATHEX had started in the summer of 2017, but due to the wider market crisis it was decided that it would be better to do it at a later time. Back then, the target was for an issue of up to 50 million euros, while now, both the company and advisers believe that the market can raise at least 100 million euros. In any case, the fact that one of the largest shipping companies in the world is coming to Greece to issue a bond, is a development that will give additional prestige to the Greek market.
The move comes at an exceptional time for the Athens bourse, with an increase in volumes and turnover in daily transactions, while demand for bonds recently issued by PPC and Motor Oil outstripped supply by 6 and 5.1 times respectively, with the total offers exceeding 4 billion.
Who is Costamare Shipping Co?
Costamare, led by Kostis Konstantakopoulos (ranked 61st in Lloyd’s list of the world’s most powerful personalities in the global shipping industry) is a leader in the global container shipping industry, with a fleet of 73 ships. It has been particularly active in recent years, with multiple new shipbuildings, capital increases and large-scale partnerships. The Konstantakopoulos family controls about 58 percent of the company.
Costamare Shipping Co S.A. was founded in 1975 by the late Captain Vassilis Konstantakopoulos. The first ship of the fleet was a small cargo which he renamed CARMEN, in honor of his wife Carmen Kyritsis with whom they had three sons, Kostis, Achilles and Christos. As of November 2010, shares in Costamare Shipping Co S.A. were listed on the world's largest capital market, Wall Street.
The company's turnover in 2020 amounted to $460.3 million, down 3.7 percent from $478.1 million in 2019, adjusted earnings for common stock (before depreciation) reached $123.7 million, while net profit was $8.9 million. In the 4th quarter of 2020, turnover amounted to $119.1 million compared to $124.5 million in the corresponding period of 2019, while net profit for the quarter fell to $27.1 million compared $35.9 million in the corresponding of 2019. Costamare Shipping Co SA has assets of more than $3 billion with a liquidity of $209.8 million, while significant repayments of loan receivables are not due until 2024.
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