HS Orka Closes Agreement with Creditors - HS Orka semur við lánadrottna

24.11.2009

Icelandic geothermal power producer, HS Orka has closed an agreement with three creditors on changes to covenants in foreign loan agreements since HS Orka's equity ratio had fallen below the minimum required by the covenants after the devaluation of the Icelandic Krona (“ISK”) last year. The agreement is the second positive development this month after HS Orka reported a comprehensive income of ISK 2641 million [$21 million] for the first nine months of 2009.
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HS Orka hefur nú náð samkomulagi við lánadrottna sína um breytingar á skilmálum erlendra lána eftir að fyrir lá að félagið uppfyllti ekki kröfur um eiginfjárhlutfall og rekstrarhlutföll í kjölfar falls íslensku krónunnar. 

Þegar fyrir lá í upphafi þessa árs að HS Orka stóð ekki lengur við kröfur í lánasamningum um eiginfjárhlutfall eftir að krónan féll, var þess sérstaklega getið í ársreikningi félagsins og í áritun endurskoðenda.  Félagið hóf strax samningaviðræður við erlenda lánveitendur sína, Norræna fjárfestingarbankann (NIB), Evrópska fjárfestingarbankann (EIB) og Evrópska þróunarbankann (CEB).  Þessar viðræður hafa leitt það af sér að nú hefur verið undirritað samkomulag við banka félagsins.  Samkomulagið felur í meginatriðum í sér að lánveitendur HS Orku hf. auka svigrúm félagsins til frávika frá fjárhagskvöðum ásamt því að samþykkja uppskiptingu Hitaveitu Suðursnesja í HS Orku og HS Veitur.  Þess í stað veitir HS Orka hf. beinar veðtryggingar vegna lána í eignum félagsins, í stað óbeinna veða áður, auk þess sem bankarnir hækka vaxtaálag sitt tímabundið.  Þá er staðfest að bankarnir viðurkenna HS Orku hf. sem nýjan skuldara í stað Hitaveitu Suðurnesja hf. í kjölfar uppskiptingar fyrirtækisins.

„Það er afar ánægjulegt og mikilvægt fyrir félagið að hafa náð þessu samkomulagi við lánveitendur sína,“ segir Júlíus Jónsson, forstjóri HS Orku.  Júlíus bætir við „að með þessu samkomulagi er þeirri fjárhagslegu óvissu eytt, sem félagið hefur búið við á árinu.“  Júlíus segir jafnframt að 9 mánaða uppgjör félagsins sýni fram á bata á hlutföllum í takt við áætlanir félagsins en eiginfjárhlutfall þess var 23% í lok september í stað 16,3% í ársbyrjun.

„Með þessu samkomulagi skapast svigrúm til að HS Orka geti sótt sér aukið fjármagn til fyrirhugaðra framkvæmda við uppbyggingu gufuaflsvirkjana hér á Suðurnesjum,“ segir  Ásgeir Margeirsson, stjórnarformaður HS Orku.

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HS Orka Closes Agreement with Creditors

 

Icelandic geothermal power producer, HS Orka has closed an agreement with three creditors on changes to covenants in foreign loan agreements since HS Orka's equity ratio had fallen below the minimum required by the covenants after the devaluation of the Icelandic Krona (“ISK”) last year. The agreement is the second positive development this month after HS Orka reported a comprehensive income of ISK 2641 million [$21 million] for the first nine months of 2009.

After the devaluation of the ISK in October of 2008 the Company began talks with its foreign creditors at the beginning of 2009 due to the lower equity ratio. These creditors include the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB), European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB). The negotiations have led to a new agreement with all three parties where HS Orka will be given more flexibility from the covenants as well as a sanctioning of the split-up of Hitaveita Sudurnesja into HS Orka, the energy producer and HS Veitur the distributor. In return, HS Orka hf. agreed to provide the Company's assets on bond, instead of indirect bonds as it was before, as well as agreeing to temporarily higher interest rates. In addition, the banks acknowledge HS Orka, as the new debtor, replacing Hitaveita Sudurnesja following the Company's split-up.

„With this agreement the financial uncertainty HS Orka has had to live with this year has now been eliminated, and the equity ratio is now 23.0%, whereas it was 16.3% at the beginning of the year,” says Julius Jonsson, CEO of HS Orka.

“This agreement is fundamental to facilitate HS Orka acquiring the financing necessary for planned construction and development of geothermal power plants in the Sudurnes region,“ says Asgeir Margeirsson, Chairman of HS Orka.

 

About HS Orka

HS Orka is the largest privately owned energy company in Iceland. Installed geothermal power capacity in total is 175 megawatts from the Svartsengi combined heat and power plant and Reykjanes power plant. The Svartsengi plant also generates 150 MW of thermal energy for district heating. The electrical supply is partly sold in USD to industrial users under long term power purchase agreements. HS Orka is adding 100 MWe to existing facilities in Reykjanes, scheduled to go online by 2011 and is on track with development of additional 150 MWe in other geothermal areas.