Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Oil and gas major Santos has repaid $250-million of its $1.2-billion export credit agency- (ECA-) supported uncovered syndicated facility, which was scheduled to mature in 2019.
The ASX-listed company told shareholders on Tuesday that the early repayment would result in gross interest savings of about $5.5-million a year.
Following the repayment, the outstanding balance of the facility will be reduced to $95-million.
Meanwhile, the company has extended the maturity date of an $810-million bilateral bank loan facility from 2018 to 2022 on favourable terms. The facilities remain undrawn.
CFO Anthony Neilson said that the ECA repayment and the bilateral extension were consistent with Santos’s focus on reducing debt, extending the debt maturity profile and reducing financing costs.
“We will continue to review our debt maturities and target our stated goal of a $1.5-billion reduction in net debt by the end of 2019. We will continue to prioritise free cash flow for debt reduction.”