Shipping Corporation of India said that it would be raising an external commercial borrowings (ECB) loan of about $700-800 million (R3,150 cr-R 3,600 cr) in the year 2011-12. This would be primarily to fund its capex requirements for the year, which is estimated at R3,768 crore.
?Every year, we go in for some external commercial borrowings, we have so far been able to pick up finances at very good rates. This is a part of our ongoing requirement for fleet acquisition. We have a commitment to invest $1.6 billion by 2015-16,? said SCI’s director (finance), BK Mandal.
For FY12, the company has plans to add 17 ships during the year to its existing fleet of 79 vessels. By the year 2015-16, SCI is planning to take this count to 110 with a total capacity of 2.02 million dead weight tonnage (DWT).
Mandal said the firm typically funds 80% of its annual capex through borrowings. SCI’s shares on the BSE closed at R104.2, up 1.36% on Tuesday.
For the quarter ended March 31, SCI reported a net loss of R6.17 crore as against a profit of R135.85 crore in same quarter previous year. This was mainly due to the performance lag in the liner segment. Its revenues for the fourth quarter of FY11 also declined to R865.13 crore from R889.42 crore in Q4FY10.