Swissport has again extended the collection date on the €286m balance of a loan to parent company HNA Group, while the Chinese conglomerate “concludes its assessment of strategic options” for its ground handler. subsidiary.
News of the extension came as Swissport reported a 4.1% rise in group revenues to €1.43bn for the first half of 2018.
In air cargo handling, Swissport’s 2018 half-year revenue amounted to €0.26bn, an increase of 7.3%, while air cargo volumes handled climbed 1.8% to 4.8m tons.
The HNA loan payment deferral was originally agreed in May 2018 by Swissport after HNA paid $100m (€83m) towards the original principal amount of €360m. A further five month extension was granted in October 2018.
In a statement today, the Switzerland-based handler said: “Swissport continues the temporary remedies standstill regarding the collection of the unpaid balance of its Affiliate Loan to HNA Group while HNA concludes its assessment of strategic options for Swissport.”
Swissport will continue to earn a market interest rate on the residual amount of the affiliate loan.
Swissport handles approximately 4.8m tons of air cargo at 122 warehouses worldwide. Several of its warehouses have been certified for Pharmaceutical Logistics by IATA’s CEIV.
In 2017, the group generated a consolidated operating revenue of €2.8bn.
