NDC subsidiary hikes paid up capital to P1.2B

The NDC Maritime Leasing Corp. (NMLC) expects to bring up its total paid up capital to P1.2 billion by the second quarter of this year, boosting its ability to finance the modernization of the domestic shipping industry.

In an interview with the The STAR, NMLC president and chief executive officer Agustin Bengzon disclosed that the NMLC’s current paid up capital is just P100 million.

However, by next month, the NMLC expects to bring up its capital to P400 million and up to P1.2 billion by the end of the second quarter this year.

Even with its initial paid up capital of P100 million, Bengzon assured, plenty of local commercial banks are already willing to help extend loans to enable the NMLC do its part in helping finance the acquisition and rehabilitation of more domestic ships.

The NMLC is a specialized financial institution that undertakes the financial leasing of ships required in the RO-RO (roll on- roll off) transport system of the country and in the modernization of the domestic shipping industry.

The NMLC is a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC), registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a financing company.

The NMLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Development Co. (NDC), a GOCC attached to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

The NMLC’s priority, Bengzon said, is to help finance the acquisition of RORO ships to be leased to RORO operators in specific missionary routes in "Super Regions" 3 (Central Philippines) and 4 (Mindanao), thereby accelerating and lowering the cost of the movement of trade and agricultural products.

The NMLC, Bengzon said, has 21 applicants for other routes and considers five of them as vital links to the Central Nautical Highway.

NMLC, Bengzon explained, would finance the acquisition of ships to be leased to qualified shipping operators under a Financial Lease Program.

The NMLC’s Financial Lease Program, Bengzon said would allow easy access to credit by financing 90 percent of the vessel’s "Total Project Cost" and by requiring a 10-percent lease deposit, without requiring a real estate mortgage (REM) or chattel mortgage since ownership of the vessel would initially be NMLC’s.

The NMLC’s other objective is to support the government’s program to increase safety and protect the marine environment in the transport of petroleum products through the acquisition of double-hulled tankers by April 2008 as mandated by MARINA.