Aspo - Company Announcement

ESL SHIPPING SIGNS EUR 25 MILLION LOAN AGREEMENT FOR SHIP FINANCING

ASPO Plc    STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE  March 4, 2011 at 13:30

ESL Shipping Ltd, part of Aspo Group, has today on March 4, 2011, signed a ship
financing agreement with Pohjola Bank plc totaling EUR 25 million. The maturity
of the loan is 10 years. The agreement now signed will be used to finance the
second EUR 30 million supramax vessel the company has ordered from the Korean
Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. Ltd. The vessel will have a carrying capacity of
56,150 dwt. The two supramax vessels ordered from Korea by ESL Shipping are
scheduled to be in traffic in the first half of 2012. The loan agreement for the
first ship ordered from Korea was signed on August 12, 2010.

ESL Shipping transports dry bulk cargoes, mainly in the Baltic Sea region;
approximately 13 million tons in 2010. The steel industry's share of transports
was 69 percent, and the energy industry represented 25 percent. The shipping
company's fleet consists of 15 vessels. The total dead weight tonnage of the
vessels is approximately 200,000 tons. The shipping company has ordered a new
approximately 20,000 dwt vessel from India, which will be delivered in the
spring of 2011. A binding leasing agreement has been signed for the vessel.

ASPO Plc

Aki Ojanen
CEO

Further information:
Harri Seppälä, Group Treasurer, Aspo Plc, +358 9 5211 or +358 400 617 201
harri.seppala(a)aspo.com

Distribution:
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki
Key media
www.aspo.com

Aspo is a conglomerate that owns and develops business operations in Northern
Europe and growth markets 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.




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