Ardmore refinances its outstanding debt with $364m in new credit facilities

NYSE-listed Ardmore Shipping has refinanced all of its outstanding debt and extended its loan maturities to 2022, which the company says will improve its cash flow by $6m during 2016.

The Ireland-based company has secured term loan commitments of $364m across two facilities.

ABN AMRO and DVB Bank have provided one $213m facility, which Ardmore says includes an incremental commitment of $20m to fund future vessel acquisitions.

Nordea Bank and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken have provided the second facility, which comprises $151m of funded debt.

The refinancing will reduce Ardmore’s interest expenses by approximately $2m this year, the company said.

Anthony Gurnee, Ardmore’s CEO, said the refinancing was “opportunistic” and the firm is “well positioned to capitalize on future growth opportunities” with the new funds as the chartering market improves, particularly for MR product tankers.

“We continue to be bullish on the outlook for the product tanker market, which is benefiting from the on-going impact of the new oil market and strong underlying fundamentals that are driving an increasing disparity between tonne-mile demand growth and a declining MR orderbook,” Gurnee said.