Greek telco OTE has extended €500m of an existing €900m syndicated bond loan revolving credit facility by one year.
Banks have agreed to the extension – an option within the original agreement dated 9 February 2011 – OTE said in a brief…
Greek telco OTE has extended €500m of an existing €900m syndicated bond loan revolving credit facility by one year.
Banks have agreed to the extension – an option within the original agreement dated 9 February 2011 – OTE said in a brief statement.
As such, OTE will repay €400m of the facility on 11 February 2013 and the remaining €500m on 11 February 2014.
EFG Eurobank coordinated the original facility and 16 other local international banks, including BoA Merrill Lynch, Citi and Deutsche Bank, were also involved.
OTE reported total debt of €4.076bn for the third quarter, down 21.4% from €5.187bn in Q3 2011. Underlying net debt for Q3 2012 stood at €2.988bn, down 25.6% from the Q3 2011 result of €4.016bn.
The group reported total revenues for Q3 of €1.178bn and EBITDA of €430.1m.
CEO and chairman Michael Tsamaz described the results as “solid” in light of the severe contractions in the Greek economy.
“Management’s intense focus on cash-flow generation led to considerable improvements compared to prior periods,” he said.
“We are making rapid progress with our refinancing plans … and are fully confident that all components will be in place on schedule by the end of the first quarter of 2013.”
Tight lending conditions in Greece and wider Europe have prompted the company to sell assets to help repay debt, a large portion of which is due by the end of 2014. In late 2011, OTE sold a 20% stake in Telekom Srbija back to the state-owned company for €380m. This January, the company said it may also consider selling Hellas Sat and, in late June, said it intended to launch formal sales processes for Bulgarian units Globul and Germanos Telecom Bulgaria.
