September 10 (SeeNews) - Bosnian brewer Banjalucka Pivara [BANJ:BLPV] said on Tuesday it plans to borrow 25 million marka ($14.1 million/12.8 million euro) from the local unit of Italian banking group UniCredit to refinance existing debt.
The company has received the approval of its shareholders to sign several agreements for pledging collateral on three new loan contracts with Banja Luka-based UniCredit Bank, Banjalucka Pivara said in a statement.
In particular, the brewer intends to sign a 18 million marka loan deal, a 4.7 million marka revolving credit contract and a 2.3 million marka credit line agreement with UniCredit Bank.
Banjalucka Pivara plans to use the proceeds of the new loans to refinance existing debt owed to UniCredit Bank (a 5.87 million marka loan and a 3.9 million marka revolving credit) and to Croatia's Zagrebacka Banka (a long-term foreign currency loan of 13.5 million euro.
Banjalucka Pivara said that the new credits will have better financing terms but did not give any details, only adding that they will provide the possibility for a better planning and structuring of its business operations in the coming period.
The company reported earlier that it has turned to a net loss of 1.1 million marka in the first half of 2019, from a 1.5 million marka net profit a year earlier.
The shares of Banjalucka Pivara last traded on the Banja Luka bourse on June 13, 2017, closing flat at 1.5 marka.
The company itself is its largest shareholder with a stake of close to 88%, while Altima UK Value Investments Limited owns just over 12%.
(1 euro=1.95583 marka)