Banco de Reservas has shrugged off macroeconomic weakness in the Dominican Republic caused by the global financial crisis and continues to grow.
Category: Loans
Posted inMagazine
Best Bank – Ecuador
Ecuador’s Banco Pichincha has been busy expanding within and beyond the country’s borders. At the same time, it has been able to keep its financial indicators in line with or better than that of the banking system as a whole.
Posted inMagazine
Best Bank – Jamaica
Jamaica’s National Commercial Bank (NCB) has passed the test of a weak local economy and a sovereign debt restructuring relatively unscathed, as profitability and liquidity remain at acceptable levels.
Posted inMagazine
Best Bank – Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico has been suffering a recession for more than four years. Several banks have collapsed, unemployment has soared and bankruptcies have increased.
Posted inMagazine
Best Bank – Trinidad & Tobago
Trinidad & Tobago’s (T&T) Republic Bank has been able to grow its assets despite a weak economy and reduction in its loan portfolio.
Posted inMagazine
Best Multilateral
Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) may be 40 this year, but it shows no signs of slowing.
Posted inDaily Brief
Brazil’s Citepe Gets EUR Loans
Brazilian petrochemical company Cia Integrada Textil de Pernambuco (Citepe), a Petrobras subsidiary, has obtained 2 credit facilities for a total of EUR91m from lead arrangers Spain’s Banco Santander and Germany’s KfW IPEX Bank, according to a person on the deal. About EUR44m comes in the form of a buyers’ credit and the remainder is an export refinancing facility. The source says the loans have a tenor of 8 years and pay an interest rate based on Euribor. The credits are guaranteed by Petrobras and covered by export credit insurance from German export credit agency Euler Hermes Kreditverischerungs. Proceeds of the facilities will go to the construction of 2 plants, one producing PET chips and the other producing textile-grade semi-dull polyester polymers.
Posted inDaily Brief
Itau Chile Heard Shopping Loan
Banco Itau Chile is expected to launch next week a syndicated loan. Credit Agricole and BNP Paribas are heard running the transaction and a bank meeting is scheduled for November 3 in New York. A $150m senior unsecured term loan facility is expected by bankers not on the deal. It is unclear why the bank is funding itself in Chile.
Posted inDaily Brief
Odebrecht Floats Hefty Drillship Bond
Use of the bond market for drillship financing appears set to grow, with Brazil’s Odebrecht targeting a $1.5bn 10-year, considerably larger than those financed so far this year. The Odebrecht Drilling Norbe VIII/IX unit will use proceeds to refinance debt related to the construction of 2 deepwater drillships operated by Odebrecht Oleo e Gas and holding 10-year contracts with Petrobras. The BBB/Baa3 amortizing deal has an 8.1-year average life and will be pitched to investors next week. Two teams will start in London and the US West Coast Monday, hit New York, continental Europe and Singapore before finishing in Boston and Hong Kong Friday. Santander, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, and Banco do Brasil are managing the sale. The notes are backed by intercompany loans granted to each drillship, according to Fitch. It notes that construction of the Norbe VIII and Norbe IX ships are 95.5% and 88.0% complete, respectively, and should be delivered in the first half of next year. Earlier this month, Brazil’s BBB/Baa3 Schahin Engenharia raised $270m in 2016 bonds to refinance debt on the operating Lancer drillship, paying a 5.85% yield.
Posted inDaily Brief
Venezuela, DR Snag IDB Loans
The IDB has approved a $700m loan to finance the modernization of the turbines of Venezuela’s Guri hydroelectric project, increasing power by 795MW. Venezuela will contribute a total of $609m in counterpart funds to the project, which will have a total cost around $1.3bn. The IDB loan is for 20 years, with a 6-year grace period and an interest rate based on Libor. Separately, the IDB has approved a $120m loan to the Dominican Republic to help enhance competitiveness. The IDB financing consists of a $110m loan with an amortization of 20 years, a grace period of 5 years and an interest rate based on Libor. The other $10m loan has an amortization of 15 years, a grace period of 5 years and an interest rate based on Libor. The multilateral does not comment on the loan spreads.