Mobile operator Zain Saudi Arabia has announced it will refinance its SR9.75bn (US$2.6bn) murabaha facility secured in 2009.
In January, the maturity of the loan had already been extended by six months to the end of July 2012. It will now be…
Mobile operator Zain Saudi Arabia has announced it will refinance its SR9.75bn (US$2.6bn) murabaha facility secured in 2009.
In January, the maturity of the loan had already been extended by six months to the end of July 2012. It will now be replaced by a five-year medium-term facility.
Zain Saudi said in a notice to the Saudi bourse that further information will be announced in due course.
The company has reported losses for several months. For Q1 2012, Zain posted a net loss of SR420m (US$112m), after reporting a SR461m (US$123m) loss in the previous quarter.
In February, the company confirmed, in a notice to the Saudi bourse, that it “incurred net loss for the year ended 31 December 2011 and its current liabilities exceeded its current assets.”
But it added that it believed “it will be successful in meeting its obligations in the normal course of operations and its efforts in securing the necessary funding which is conditional to the company’s capital restructuring.”
The refinancing of this murabaha facility comes as Islamic finance in the telecoms industry is currently on the rise, with telcos formulating some sizeable and innovative transactions.
A feature on the subject of Islamic financing will be published in the next issue of TelecomFinance, due out later this week.
