Polymetal International plc (LON:POLY) has today announced that it has secured a long-term 5-year fixed rate loan in the amount of US$250 million with Alfa-Bank.
The loan has created a significant liquidity reserve at an attractive fixed interest rate and will be primarily used to refinance maturing debt. It is repayable in 2023 and will meaningfully improve the company’s maturity profile.
The Company’s average interest rate in 1H 2018 stood at 4.11% (2017: 3.96%, 2016: 4.33%) with 47% of its portfolio at a fixed interest rate. The average borrowing rate for Polymetal has been consistently low despite meaningful growth in base interest rates over the last two years.
As at 30 June 2018, the Company’s net debt stood at US$ 1,652 million, 2.08 times Adjusted EBITDA. As in prior years, stronger production and a traditional seasonal working capital drawdown should drive stronger free cash flow generation in 2H 2018 and will bring our net debt down by year end to its normalised levels and below 2.0x Adjusted EBITDA.
“This is an excellent transaction which provides for stability of funding to support our development strategy going forward. I am very pleased to see that even in today’s turbulent environment, Polymetal continues to source long-term financing on attractive terms from leading financial institutions, maintaining a stable low cost of debt and a comfortable maturity profile”, – said Maxim Nazimok, CFO of Polymetal International plc.
