Israel Corp. to provide a US$350m emergency cash to rescue Zim

The money which will be paid in instalments comes on top of US$100m already provided. The loan will be provided in tranches this year and next
 
Israeli container line Zim Integrated Shipping Services has been hauled back from the brink of collapse by its parent company, Israel Corp., with a US$350m. emergency cash injection.      Israel Corp. laid out details of the cash infusion in a note to the Tel Aviv stock exchange, and added it expects losses of US$1 billion. Zim's first quarter net loss widened to US$119 million from US$29 million a year earlier and revenue slumped to US$622 million against $1.04 billion as traffic shrunk by 33% to TEU 410,000 from TEU 610,000.
 
TheUS$350m, which would be paid in instalments and comes on top of US$100m already provided, “is required and essential to the continuation of Zim’s operations”, Israel Corp said in a filing to the Tel Aviv stock exchange.
 
According to Alphaliner, a Paris-based shipping consultant Zim is the world's sixteenth largest ocean carrier with 30 owned ships and 65 chartered vessels aggregating TEU 287,930.
 
The carrier has 29 ships of TEU 244,604 on order, equivalent to 85% of its current fleet capacity. It is negotiating with shipyards to delay deliveries.
 
Israel Corp’s board approved last week in principle the US$350m loan that will be provided in tranches this year and next, but with US$40m to be handed over at once, pending the annual general meeting to be held on August 20 to approve the rescue. “Not providing the loan amount… may cause potential damage for the company and companies controlled by it, including facing future difficulties in receiving new financing and refinancing from international and local financial institutions,” Israel Corp said in reference to its own position.
 
Israel Corp added that the shipping sector has sustained “a heavy blow over the last two years,” and that what the industry was currently experiencing “has not been seen for over 40 years, a drop in demand deriving from negative or slow growth worldwide, against a surplus of supply.”