Castor Maritime secures financing for bulker duo

Cyprus-based bulker owner Castor Marine has won financing for two of its dry bulkers worth $15 million from an unnamed European financial institution.

The company also received a notification letter from the Nasdaq Stock Market granting the company an additional 180-day extension, or until June 28, 2021, to regain compliance with Nasdaq’s minimum bid price requirement.

“The company intends to regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement within the Second Compliance Period considering all available options, including a reverse stock split,” the company said.

During this time, the company’s common shares will continue to be listed and traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market.

With the acquisition of M/V Magic Horizon in July and MV Magic Nova in September 2020, the company’s fleet has increased to 6 Panamax dry bulk carriers.

“The third quarter of 2020 was a transformational one for our company, as we were able to raise substantial capital and put it to use very quickly by taking advantage of several attractive vessel acquisition opportunities presented to us,” Petros Panagiotidis, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Castor, said in the third-quarter report.

” At the same time, we were able to charter our redelivered vessels at, on average, higher levels, setting the stage for improved profitability in the near term. While the COVID-19 pandemic still affects our industry and causes overall uncertainty, we believe that our conservative and disciplined growth strategy will produce positive long-term benefits for our shareholders.”

The company’s revenues for the first nine months of 2020 stood at $8.1 million as compared to $3.1 million for the nine months in 2019, marking a 161% period to period increase. Castor booked a net loss of $984,621 for the same period, as compared to net income of $560,801 for the nine months ended September 30, 2019.