September 11 (SeeNews) - Romanian gas transmission company Transgaz [BSE:TGN] announced that it is seeking a bank loan of 360 million lei ($88 million/ 74 million euro) in order to finance investment projects.
Transgaz is seeking a loan with a term of 13 years, with a grace period of 1 year, payable in semi-annual instalments, it said in a statement on Thursday.
The company is yet to decide whether it will take out a fixed or variable interest loan
The deadline for submitting bids by interested banks is October 8.
Transgaz expects to select the winner by October 12 and sign the loan agreement on October 21.
In mid-July, Transgaz announced that it is borrowing 300 million lei from local lender Banca Transilvania [BSE:TLV] to finance its working capital needs. The loan contract has a duration of two years.
In August, Transgaz announced that it has inaugurated the Bibesti gas compressor station, part of the first stage of the BRUA gas pipeline project following a 39 million euro investment. In the first phase of BRUA, a total of 560 million euro is to be invested in the construction of a new gas pipeline of 550 km in length that will have a maximum capacity of 1.5 billion cubic meters per year in the direction of Bulgaria and 4.4 billion cubic meters per year in the direction of Hungary.
Also in August, Transgaz said that it will ask its shareholders to approve the sale of a 25% stake in its Moldovan subsidiary Vestmoldtransgaz to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for 20 million euro ($23.6 million).
Transgaz's first-half net profit rose 18.2% on the year to 231 million lei, while turnover fell by an annual 9.3% to 851 million lei. Investments made by the company during January-June almost doubled on an annual comparison basis, reaching 753 million lei.
Transgaz shares traded 1.03% higher at 294 lei on the Bucharest Stock Exchange as at 1014 CET on Friday.
(1 euro=4.8573 lei)
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