KrisEnergy to miss principal, interest payments on more debts

KRISENERGY, which is undergoing a restructuring, on Thursday said it will not make principal and interest payments totalling US$4.5 million coming due on Feb 21, 2020, under two term loans from HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank.

The debt-laden upstream oil and gas firm also will not pay about S$4.2 million in interest due on Feb 22, 2020, under the S$200 million 4 per cent senior unsecured notes maturing in 2023.

It has already missed the payment of S$2.7 million in interest that had come due on Dec 9, 2019, under the S$130 million 4 per cent senior unsecured notes maturing in 2022.

In October last year, the company had announced its decision not to pay out the principal and interest payable for the S$130 million notes, along with the principal payable under the S$139.5 million senior secured zero-coupon notes due 2024.

The company on Thursday said it decided to cease repayment on certain of its financial obligations while the restructuring process is ongoing.

Its existing debts also include a US$200 million revolving credit facility with DBS Bank maturing this June 30, although KrisEnergy did not disclose on Thursday whether it intends to repay this debt.

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KrisEnergy is working closely with its advisers to conserve all available cash to meet the group's funding requirements during the restructuring period, to protect the interests of all stakeholders while it works on a "holistic and equitable" restructuring proposal, it said.

In August 2019, the firm sought court protection from creditors' legal action while it restructured its debts. Keppel Corporation, a creditor and shareholder of KrisEnergy, then publicly came out to support the application and KrisEnergy's management in formulating a restructuring plan.

Total debts stood at around US$558.8 million as at June 30, 2019, according to KrisEnergy's presentation slides for its Sept 10 informal investor meeting for noteholders and shareholders.