A P MOLLER-MAERSK, the Danish-owned shipping and energy giant, is getting ready to refinance its loans, according to banking sources.

It is arranging syndication of a self-arranged, five-year multi-billion dollar loan refinancing.

The company is one of an increasing number of large European companies seeking to take advantage of the lower pricing and longer maturities currently available in the loan market to push out maturities on their existing debt.

Moller-Maersk has a $6.5bn revolving credit facility which it is believed will mature in July 2012. The company also self-arranged a $3.13bn forward start loan in 2009 to extend part of the larger financing to 2014 at maturity.

Speaking from Copenhagen, Moller-Maersk’s European head of communications, said the company had no comment.

Yet revenue for the first six months of 2010 increased by 20%, largely because of higher freight rates and volumes for its container shipping activities and higher oil prices.

The profit for six month period was $2.5bn compared to a loss of $0.5bn in the same period of 2009, but the company is far from complacent.

It sold its Norfolk Line subsidiary, including its Birkenhead-Belfast and Dublin freight ro-ro services to DFDS Danish Seaway, in July.