Note 16 - Interest Bearing Loans

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Notes to Financial Statements

Debt Disclosure [Text Block]

16. Interest bearing loans

On October 6, 2023, we amended and restated the previous revolving credit facility agreement pursuant to an amendment and restatement agreement (the “Amended and Restated Facility Agreement”) with DNB Bank ASA, London Branch, as agent, in order to extend the maturity of the revolving credit facility agreement. The maturity date of the Amended and Restated Facility Agreement is October 6, 2026. The Amended and Restated Facility Agreement increased the total commitments to $250.0 million, of which $166.7 million was available for drawdowns as loans and $83.3 million was available for letters of credit. The Company has the ability to increase the commitments to $350.0 million.

Borrowings under the Amended and Restated Facility Agreement bear interest at a rate per annum of Term SOFR (as defined in the Amended and Restated Facility Agreement), subject to a 0.00% floor, plus an applicable margin of 3.75% (which is subject to a margin ratchet which reduces the margin in 4 step downs according to the Total Net Leverage Ratio (as defined in the Amended and Restated Facility Agreement)) for cash borrowings or 2.50% for letters of credit (which are similarly subject to a margin ratchet which reduces the margin in 4 step downs according to the Total Net Leverage Ratio). A 0.40% per annum fronting fee applies to letters of credit, and an additional 0.25% or 0.50% per annum utilization fee is payable on cash borrowings to the extent one-third or two-thirds, respectively, or more of Facility A (as defined in the Amended and Restated Facility Agreement) commitments are drawn. The unused portion of the Amended and Restated Facility Agreement is subject to a commitment fee of 35% per annum of the applicable margin.

The Amended and Restated Facility Agreement retains various undertakings and affirmative and negative covenants (with certain agreed amendments) which limit, subject to certain customary exceptions and thresholds, the Company and its subsidiaries’ ability to, among other things, (1) enter into asset sales; (2) incur additional indebtedness; (3) make investments, acquisitions, or loans and create or incur liens; (4) pay certain dividends or make other distributions and (5) engage in transactions with affiliates. The Amended and Restated Facility Agreement amends certain of the financial covenants such that the Company is required to maintain (i) a minimum interest cover ratio of 4.0 to 1.0 based on the ratio of EBITDA to net finance charges and (ii) a maximum total net leverage ratio of 2.50 to 1.0 based on the ratio of total net debt to EBITDA, in each case tested quarterly on a last-twelve-months basis, subject to certain exceptions. We are in compliance with all our debt covenants as of  March 31, 2024.

As of  March 31, 2024, we had $40.0 million of borrowings outstanding under the Amended and Restated Facility Agreement. The effective interest rate on our outstanding borrowings was 7.6%. As of December 31, 2023, we had $20.0 million of borrowings outstanding. We utilized $44.6 million and $50.4 million as of  March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively, for bonds and guarantees.