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LOANS PAYABLE
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2013
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]  
LOANS PAYABLE
14. LOANS PAYABLE
 
Collective Capital Trust Plan
 
On December 3, 2009, the Company and Beijing International Trust Co., Ltd. (“Beijing Trust”) formed a Low Carbon Fortune-Energy Recycling No. 1 Collective Capital Trust Plan (“Plan”) pursuant to the Capital Trust Loan Agreement (the “Agreement”) entered into by Erdos TCH Energy Saving Development Co., Ltd and Beijing Trust dated November 19, 2009. All amounts raised under the Plan were loaned to Erdos TCH in connection with its waste heat power generation projects Phase II and Phase III construction and operation.
 
Under the Agreement, the annual base interest rate was 9.94% for A1 preferred trust fund units with a term of two years, 11% for A2 preferred trust fund units with a term of three years, 12.05% for A3 preferred trust fund units and 8.35% for the category B secondary trust fund units, each with a term of four years. Erdos TCH provided a lien on its equipment, assets and accounts receivable to guarantee the loans under the Agreement. Xi’an TCH and Mr. Guohua Ku, the CEO, the Chairman of the Company’s Board of Directors and a major shareholder, provided unconditional and irrevocable joint liability guarantees to Beijing Trust for Erdos TCH’s performance under the Agreement. Erdos (the minority shareholder and customer of Erdos TCH) provided a commitment letter on minimum power purchase from Erdos TCH.
 
The Trust Plan raised $44.1 million (RMB 300,000,000) through a series of capital raises in 2009 and 2010, of which, 13,750,000 B1 units ($2.0 million) were purchased by the management of Erdos TCH; 1,600,000 ($235,600) A1 units and 46,250,000 B2 units ($7.4 million) were purchased by Xi’an TCH, the amount was considered an investment by Xi’an TCH into Erdos TCH and, accordingly, was eliminated in the consolidated financial statements. Portion of category A units (RMB 35,250,000) were due and paid in full on December 3, 2011, of which, RMB 1,600,000 was purchased by Xi’an TCH. As of December 31, 2012, the entire outstanding trust loan was due within one year. The net loan payable under this trust plan was $32.1 million and $31.4 million (RMB 197,500,000) as of September 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012, respectively.
 
In addition to the above, under the Loan Agreement, Erdos TCH must pay a management incentive benefit to Beijing Trust upon maturity of the category A3 and category B trust units in December 2013 if the ratio of Erdos TCH’s profit to its registered capital exceeds a base amount. If this criterion is met, the amount of the management incentive benefit is calculated based on a formula tied to Erdos TCH’s net profit and the average registered capital for 2012 fiscal year. Under this formula the management incentive benefit could range between 0% and 100% of the net profit of Erdos TCH in 2012. For the year ended December 31, 2012, Erdos TCH incurred a net loss under both PRC GAAP and US GAAP.
 
The management incentive benefit was structured to provide an incentive to management to make the joint venture profitable. Under the Plan, Beijing Trust will distribute the entire amount of the management incentive benefit it receives to the holders of the category B trust units. As previously disclosed, the holders of the category B trust units are the management of Erdos TCH and Xi’an TCH. Category B trust units receive a lower base interest rate than the category A trust units but the economic return to the holders of category B trust units will be enhanced by any management incentive benefit.
 
Erdos TCH also will share the benefits from Clean Development Mechanism ("CDM") under the Kyoto Protocol equally with Beijing Trust during the term of the loan. Any benefit received from CDM will be paid to Erdos Metallurgy first.  Under the agreement with Xi’an TCH, Erdos Metallurgy agrees to deliver to Xi’an TCH 50% of the benefit Erdos Metallurgy receives. Xi’an TCH agrees to share 50% of the benefit it receives from Erdos Metallurgy with Erdos TCH. Under the Capital Trust Loan Agreement between Erdos TCH and Beijing Trust, Erdos TCH agrees that 50% of any benefit it receives will be delivered to Beijing Trust. Pursuant to the Plan, Beijing Trust will distribute 70% of the CDM benefit it receives to the holders of the category B trust units. The receipt of any CDM benefit is subject to a process of evaluation and certification of the project by the CDM Executive Board and is under the guidance of the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The first stages of the certification process have been completed successfully.
 
Entrusted Loan Payable
 
The newly established Fund (Beijing Hongyuan Recycling Energy Investment Center, LLP) with total fund size of RMB 460 million ($75.0 million) invests in Xi'an Zhonghong for Zhonghong’s 3 new coke dry quenching (CDQ) waste heat power generation projects. The Fund invested RMB 3 million ($0.5 million) as an equity investment and RMB 457 million ($74.5 million) as a debt investment; in return for such investments, the Fund will receive an interest payment from Zhonghong for the Fund's debt investment. The RMB 457 million ($74.5 million) was released to Zhonghong through an entrusted bank, which is also the supervising bank for the use of the loan. The loan shall be deposited to a bank account at the Supervising Bank (the Industrial Bank Xi'an Branch) and will be jointly supervised by Zhonghong and the Fund Management Company. Project spending shall be verified by the Fund Management Company to confirm that it is in accordance with the project schedule before the funds are released. All the operating accounts of Zhonghong shall be opened with the branches of the Supervising Bank and the Supervising Bank has the right to monitor all bank accounts opened by Zhonghong. The entrusted bank will charge 0.1% of loan amount as service fee and will not take any lending risk. The loan was collateralized by the accounts receivable and the fixed assets of Shenqiu Phase I and II power generation systems, the accounts receivable and fixed assets of Zhonghong’s three CDQ waste heat power generation systems, and the equity ownership of Xi’an TCH in Zhonghong. Repayment of the loan (principal and interest) was also jointly and severally guaranteed by Xi’an TCH and the Company’s CEO.
  
Zhonghong shall also maintain certain capital level in its account with the Supervising Bank to make sure it has sufficient funds to make interest payments when they are due:
 
           
During the first three years from the first release of the loan, the balance in its account shall be no less than RMB 7.14 million ($1.19 million) on the 20th day of the 2nd month of each quarter and no less than RMB 14.28 million ($2.38 million) on the 14th day of the last month of each quarter;
 
           
During the fourth year from the first release of the loan, the balance in its account shall be no less than RMB 1.92 million ($0.32 million) on the 20th day of the 2nd month of each quarter and no less than RMB 3.85 million ($0.64 million) on the 14th day of the last month of each quarter; and
 
           
During the fifth year from the first release of the loan, the balance in its account shall be no less than RMB 96,300 ($16,050) on the 20th day of the 2nd month of each quarter and no less than RMB 192,500 ($32,080) on the 14th day of the last month of each quarter.
 
The term of this loan is for 60 months from July 31, 2013 to July 30, 2018. On August 6, 2016, Zhonghong shall repay principal in the amount of RMB 280 million ($45.54 million); on August 6, 2017, it shall repay principal of RMB 100 million ($16.27 million) and on July 30, 2018, it shall repay the remainder of RMB 77 million ($12.52 million). The interest rate is 12.5% per year. Zhonghong shall maintain a minimal funding level and capital level in its designated account with the Supervising Bank to make sure it has sufficient funds to make principal payments when they are due. For the nine months ended September 30, 2013, the Company recorded interest expense of $309,400 on this loan. As of September 30, 2013, the entrusted loan payable had an outstanding balance of $74.33 million, of which, $12.2 million was from the investment of Xi’an TCH; accordingly, the Company netted off the loan payable of $12.2 million with the long-term investment to the Fund made by Xi’an TCH.
 
Bank Loans - Industrial Bank
 
Xi’an TCH entered into an agreement with Industrial Bank Co., Ltd., Xi’an Branch (the “Lender”) for a loan designed for energy saving and emission reduction projects, whereby the Lender agreed to loan $4.88 million (RMB 30 million )  to Xi’an TCH for three years from April 6, 2010 to April 5, 2013. The loan had a floating interest rate that reset at the beginning of each quarter at 110% of the national base interest rate for the same term and same level loan (then 6.77%).  The loan agreement contained standard representations, warranties and covenants, and was guaranteed by Xi’an TCH, Shaanxi Shengwei Construction Material Group and Mr. Guohua Ku. The principal was paid in full at maturity.
 
Xi’an TCH entered into another loan agreement with the same Industrial Bank for energy saving and emission reduction projects, whereby the Lender agreed to loan $4.88 million (RMB 30 million) to Xi’an TCH for three years to March 30, 2014. The loan agreement has a floating interest rate that resets at the beginning of each quarter at 115% of the national base interest rate for the same term and same level loan (then 7.07%).  Under the loan, Xi’an TCH is required to make quarterly interest payments and, beginning six months after the date of the release of the funds, to make minimum quarterly principal payments of $488,000 (RMB 3.0 million). The loan agreement contains standard representations, warranties and covenants, and the loan is guaranteed by Xi’an TCH, Mr. Guohua Ku and Ms. Chaoying Zhang. As of September 30, 2013, this loan had an outstanding balance of $0.98 million, which is to be repaid within one year.
 
The loan was originally pledged with the system and revenue of the project ZhongBao. In June 2011, the system of the project ZhongBao was sold to and leased back from Cinda Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (the “Cinda Financial”), the Company engaged a third party guarantee company as the guarantor for the loan, which was approved by the Industrial Bank in July 1, 2011. The loan had the following covenants: (i) maintain the current assets and net assets not less than $79 million (RMB 500 million); (ii) assets to liability ratio not less than 80%; and (iii) the current ratio not less than 1. In the first quarter of 2011, the Company received a waiver letter from the Lender waiving all covenants.
 
On November 8, 2011, Xi’an TCH entered the third loan agreement with the same Industrial Bank for energy saving and emission reduction projects, whereby the Lender agreed to loan $21.04 million (RMB 130 million) to Xi’an TCH for four years to November 27, 2015. The loan agreement has a floating interest rate that resets at the beginning of each quarter at 115% of the national base interest rate for the same term and same level loan (then 7.36%).  Under the loan, Xi’an TCH is required to make quarterly interest payments and, beginning nine months after the date of the release of the funds, to make minimum quarterly principal payments of $1,62 million (RMB 10 million). For the first nine months, the loan was in a grace period and there was no repayment requirement. The loan is guaranteed by accounts receivable of Xi’an TCH, Pucheng and Shenqiu BMPG systems and Mr. Guohua Ku. As of September 30, 2013, this loan had outstanding balance of $13.01 million, of which, $6.51 million was to be repaid within one year and was classified as current liability, and $6.51 million will be repaid after one year and was classified as noncurrent liability.
  
Bank Loan – Bank of Xi’an
 
During the first quarter of 2012, Xi’an TCH entered into an agreement with Bank of Xi’an, whereby Bank of Xi’an agreed to loan $4.88 million (RMB 30 million) to Xi’an TCH for one year with maturity on March 1, 2013. The monthly interest rate of the loan was 0.60133%. Under the terms of the loan, Xi’an TCH was required to make monthly interest payments and the principal was to be repaid at maturity. The loan was guaranteed by a third party guarantee company and Mr. Guohua Ku. The Company paid the third party guarantee company $119,322 (RMB 750,000) as a re-guarantee service fee. This loan was repaid at maturity.
 
On March 28, 2013, Xi’an TCH entered into another agreement with Bank of Xi’an, whereby Bank of Xi’an agreed to loan $4.88 million (RMB 30 million) to Xi’an TCH for one year with maturity on March 27, 2014. The monthly interest rate of the loan is 0.575%. Under the terms of the loan, Xi’an TCH is required to make monthly interest payments and the principal is to be repaid at maturity. The loan is guaranteed by a third party guarantee company and Mr. Guohua Ku. The Company paid a third party $115,315 (RMB 712,500) as a re-guarantee service fee.
 
As of September 30, 2013, the future minimum repayment of all the bank loans to be made by years was as follows:
 
2014
 
$
12,361,744
 
2015
 
 
6,506,181
 
Total
 
$
18,867,925
 
 
Financing Agreement- - Sale Lease-Back Transaction (Long Term Payable)
 
On June 28, 2011, Xi’an TCH entered into a Financing Agreement (the “Agreement”) with Cinda Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (the “Cinda Financial”), an affiliate of China Cinda (HK) Asset Management Co., Ltd. (the “Cinda HK”).
 
Under the Agreement, Xi’an TCH transferred its ownership of a set of 7MW steam turbine waste heat power generation system (the “WHPG system currently used by Zhongbao”) and four furnaces and ancillary apparatus (the “Assets”) to Cinda Financial for $6.72 million (RMB 42.50 million), and Cinda Financial leased the Assets to Xi’an TCH for 5 years for $8.15 million (RMB 51.54 million) based upon the transfer cost and the benchmark interest rate for five year loans by People’s Bank of China (“PBOC”) (then 6.65%) plus 15% of that rate (7.6475%).  The interest rate will increase if the five-year benchmark interest rate of PBOC increases but will remain the same if the benchmark rate decreases in the future.  Xi’an TCH shall make pro rata quarterly payments to Cinda Financial for the leasing fees. Upon the completion of the lease term and full payment of all leasing fees and other fees, Xi’an TCH can pay $676 (RMB 4,250) to acquire the ownership of the Assets from Cinda Financial. The quarterly minimum leasing payment to Cinda Financial is $412,855 (RMB 2,594,998).
 
In addition to the leasing fees, Xi’an TCH prepaid a one-time non-refundable leasing service charge of $405,696 (RMB 2.55million) and a refundable security deposit of $338,079 (RMB 2.13 million) to Cinda Financial. The prepaid leasing service fee is to be: amortized over five years. For the nine months ended September 30, 2013 and 2012, $61,549 (RMB 382,500) and $60,551 (RMB 382,500) was amortized; and $20,692 and $20,122 was amortized for the three months ended September 30, 2013 and 2012, respectively. The unamortized portion was recorded as prepaid loan fees of $82,954 and $145,169 into current and non-current portions, respectively, as of September 30, 2013.
 
In accordance with ASC 840-10-25-4, since CREG retains substantially all of the benefits and risks relating to the property, this transaction was a financing and was recorded as such. The proceeds of this financing were not received prior to September 30, 2011; therefore, this transaction was recorded in the third quarter of 2011. As of September 30, 2013, the Company made repayments of $3,798,487 to Cinda Financial.
 
As of September 30, 2013, the future minimum payment to be made by years was as follows:
 
2014
 
$
1,688,353
 
2015
 
 
1,688,353
 
2016
 
 
1,262,468
 
Total
 
 
4,639,174
 
Unamortized interest
 
 
(508,236)
 
Total long term payable
 
 
4,130,938
 
Current portion
 
 
1,401,276
 
Noncurrent portion
 
$
2,729,662