NEW YORK, June 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Sino-Global Shipping
America, Ltd (NasdaqCM: SINO) ("Sino-Global" or the "Company"), a
Virginia company engaged in
shipping, chartering and related services, today announced that it
received the first payment under a previously reported time charter
agreement, in the amount of $113,500
covering the 15-day period starting May 20,
2015.
Mr. Lei Cao, Chief Executive Office of Sino-Global said, "This
payment is a significant milestone for Sino-Global as we believe it
tangibly demonstrates a new phase in the growth and expansion of
Sino-Global as we expand and transition our business from strictly
being a service provider in the shipping industry to an asset owner
with an integrated, scalable service platform in the shipping
industry. We believe as a result of the two-year time charter
agreements, our shipping and chartering services will begin to make
a significant contribution to our revenue growth going
forward."
On April 10, 2015, Sino-Global
signed an asset purchase agreement to acquire the Rong Zhou (the
"Purchase Agreement"), an 8,818 gross tonnage oil/chemical
transportation tanker (the "Vessel"), from Rong Yao International
Shipping Limited, a Hong Kong
company (the "Vessel Seller") for $10.5
million.
To help facilitate a smooth transition of the management and
operation of the Vessel to Sino-Global, the Vessel Seller
time-chartered the Vessel to Sino-Global for a two-year period, and
Sino-Global, in turn, time-chartered the Vessel to a third-party
charterer for the same two-year period both of which two-year
periods commenced May 20, 2015.
Under the terms of such chartering agreements, the third-party
charterer will pay Sino-Global a chartering fee of $7,500 per day, and in turn, the Company will pay
the Vessel Seller a chartering fee of $3,500 per day. The Company believes, based
on current expectations and information, that during the two-year
period of the charter agreements, the time charter agreements will
generate revenues and net profit to Sino-Global of approximately
$5 million and $1.8 million, respectively.
Under the terms of the Purchase Agreement, the Company issued to
the Vessel Seller 1.2 million shares of its restricted common stock
representing $2.22 million of the
$10.5 million purchase price for the
Vessel. The Company and the Vessel Seller agreed that each of
the 1.2 million restricted shares issued to the Vessel Seller was
valued at $1.85. The Company
registered for resale on a registration statement on Form S-1, the
Vessel Seller's 1,200,000 shares. Although the Company
believes its acquisition of the Vessel will close on or about
June 30, 2015, no assurances can be
given when such closing will occur.
Pursuant to the terms of the Purchase Agreement, Sino-Global on
closing, will pay the Vessel Seller an additional $5.5 million in the form of cash, or, in
Sino-Global's discretion, cash and/or shares of its restricted
common stock valued at a price per share of $1.85 (approximately 2,162,000 restricted
shares). The issuance of any such additional shares of the
Company's common stock to the Vessel Seller in connection with the
Company's acquisition of the Vessel, is subject to approval by a
majority of the Company's shareholders. The Company's
shareholders will vote on such additional issuances at the
Company's 2015 Annual Shareholders' meeting scheduled to occur on
June 11, 2015.
The remaining $2.78 million
balance of the Vessel purchase price (which is subject to
adjustments as provided in the Purchase agreement for any defects
in the Vessel discovered during the Company's inspection and trial
run of the Vessel and during the 12 months following the closing of
the Vessel acquisition), is payable in cash, additional shares of
Sino-Global's restricted common stock and/or a combination thereof,
as agreed to by the parties.
To help ensure that the Company has the technical expertise and
ability to manage the Vessel, the Company's Board of Directors
approved and Sino-Global entered into agreements with three
separate independent consultants to provide ship management
advisory services to the Company (including, but not limited to,
crew management and vessel maintenance) for an 18-month period. In
exchange for these services, Sino-Global issued a total of 500,000
shares of its common stock to these consultants on May 27, 2015. Such 500,000 shares are
covered by the Company's Registration Statement on Form S-8.
The related non-cash charge of $794,950 will be ratably charged to the Company's
income over the term of the agreements.
Sino-Global recently filed its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for
its fiscal year 2015 third quarter (the "10-Q"). Among the
highlights in the 10-Q are:
- Total revenues for the three months ended March 31,
2015 increased 20.8% to $2,526,762 with revenues
from inland transportation management services grew 49.5% to a
record level of $1,295,580.
- Operating margin increased to 9.4% for the three months
ended March 31, 2015 from 3.4% for the same period of
2014.
- Basic and diluted EPS of $0.05 for the three months
ended March 31, 2015 marked the seventh consecutive
quarter of net profit for the Company.
About Sino-Global Shipping America, Ltd.
Founded in the United
States of America in 2001, Sino-Global Shipping
America, Ltd. is a company engaged in shipping, chartering and
related services. We are headquartered in New
York with offices in Mainland
China, Australia, Canada and Hong Kong.
Our current service offerings consist of shipping agency services,
shipping and chartering services, inland transportation management
services and ship management services. For more information,
please visit: www.sino-global.com.
Forward Looking Statements
Any statements and/or other information contained in this
release that relate, directly and/or indirectly, to future plans,
events or performance of the Company including, but not limited to,
the Vessel acquisition, the Vessel and/or the time charter
agreements, are forward-looking statements that involve risks, and
uncertainties some of which are identified in Sino-Global's filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results,
events or performance of the Company and such other about mentioned
events may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which
speak only as the date hereof. Sino-Global undertakes no
obligation to publicly release or otherwise disclose the results of
any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made
to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to
reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
For more information, please contact:
Mr. Michael Porter, President
Porter, LeVay and Rose
212-564-4700
Michael@plrinvest.com
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SOURCE Sino-Global Shipping America, Ltd.