Aspo Oyj — Capital/Financing Update 2014

Apr 7, 2014

Disclosure 314331

Aspo - Company Announcement

ESL Shipping signs EUR 10 million ship financing agreement

ASPO Plc STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE April 7, 2014, at 16.15 ESL SHIPPING SIGNS EUR 10 MILLION SHIP FINANCING AGREEMENT ESL Shipping Ltd, part of Aspo Group, has today on April 7, 2014, signed a EUR 10 million ship financing agreement with Pohjola Bank plc. The loan will be repaid in one installment after four years. The agreed loan will finance a ship transaction announced in January 2014, in which ESL Shipping acquired the full ownership of a 20,000 dwt dry cargo vessel that it owned previously in part. The vessel was renamed m/s Kallio. Upon implementation, the vessel transaction was financed from Aspo Plc's financing sources, and with the agreement signed now, the financing is converted into long-term vessel financing."Being part of the Aspo conglomerate, the financing terms of ESL Shipping are better than those of an independent shipping company. We are very satisfied with ESL Shipping's total financing and the m/s Kallio agreement that has now been signed ", says Mikki Koskinen, Managing Director of ESL Shipping. ESL Shipping is the leading dry bulk sea transport company operating in the Baltic Sea region. The shipping company's fleet consists of 15 vessels, of which it owns 13 in full. One is leased and one is time-chartered. ASPO Plc Aki Ojanen CEO For further information, please contact: Harri Seppälä, Group Treasurer Aspo Plc, +358 9 521 4035, +358 400 106 592, e- mail harri.seppala(a)aspo.com. Aspo is a conglomerate that owns and develops business operations in the Baltic Sea region focusing on demanding B-to-B customers. Our strong company brands - ESL Shipping, Leipurin, Telko and Kaukomarkkinat - aim to be the market leaders in their sectors. They are responsible for their own operations, customer relationships and the development of these. Together they generate Aspo's goodwill. Aspo's Group structure and business operations are continually developed without any predefined schedules. DISTRIBUTION: NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Key media www.aspo.com [HUG#1775166]