DryShips' CFO sees company's credit metrics trending favorably

By Jennifer Lanning Drey

Savannah, Ga., March 31 - DryShips Inc. ended 2010 with net debt to adjusted EBITDA of 3 times and sees its credit metrics trending favorably, Ziad Nakhieh, the company's chief financial officer, said Thursday during its fourth-quarter and year-end earnings conference call.

The company also announced Thursday that it has received commitments for $832.3 million of new secured term loans.

Nakhieh noted that the new bank debt is projected to come online with a corresponding increase in EBITDA. He also said the company will have a decrease in its current debt, which is rapidly amortizing, and expects to regain compliance with many of its original covenants that have been temporarily waived.

Regarding the new commitments, the company signed a commitment for an $800 million 51/2-year term loan that has a 12-year repayment profile and will be used to help fund construction of the Ocean Rig Corcovado and Olympia as well as to repay a portion of a $325 million bridge loan.

Additionally, DryShips got a commitment on Wednesday for a $32.3 million six-year term loan with a 15-year repayment profile to help finance the construction of the newbuilding tanker Daytona, which is scheduled to be delivered in May.

DryShips said that it completed on Feb. 7 a new $70 million five-year secured term loan that has a 15-year repayment profile with an international lender to partially finance the construction costs of the newbuilding tankers Saga and Villamoura.

In addition, the company received consents from lenders on Monday to restructure its $1.1 billion secured term loan with Deutsche Bank.

Pankaj Khanna, DryShip's chief operating officer, said the advancements on the financing front should take away any remaining uncertainty about the company's ability to fund its existing newbuilding program.

DryShips reported net income of $99.7 million in the fourth quarter, compared with net income of $9.6 million for the same three months in 2009. Fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA was $129.3 million, compared with adjusted EBITDA of $76.7 million for the same period in 2009.

DryShips is an Athens-based provider of marine transportation services for drybulk cargoes and off-shore contract drilling oil services.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.