The management of Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, a leading Nigerian indigenous oil and gas company listed on both the Nigeria Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange, on Monday announced the successful extension of its revolving credit facility to December 31, 2018.
The amended facility was provided by 10 banks, resulting in about 30% oversubscription, demonstrating the company’s strong underlying business fundamentals and is further testament to the strength of our relationship with its continuing and new lenders, according to Roger Brown, the Chief Financial Officer.
A statement by the company explained also that the three-year RCF, which was due to expire at the end of 2017, was “successfully amended to amortise the remaining outstanding principal balance of US$150m in equal instalments over five quarters commencing Q4 2017.”
This has reduced Seplat’s aggregate indebtedness under its Term Loan and RCF by US$365m from its peak in Q1 2015 of US$1bn to the current balance at the end of June 2017 of US$635m, representing a “significant deleveraging of the balance sheet particularly in exceptionally difficult trading conditions over the past 18 months.”
The amended facility was provided by 10 banks, two of which are Nigerian: Citibank Nigeria Limited and Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc.
Others are: Citibank N.A. London Branch, The Mauritius Commercial Bank Plc, Natixis, Nedbank Limited London Branch, Nomura International Plc, FirstRand Bank Limited acting through its Rand Merchant Bank Division, The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited and Standard Chartered Bank.
Commenting on the extension, Roger Brown said: “We are pleased to announce the extension to our revolving credit facility. The approval to extend and strong demand within our core lending group, which saw around 30% oversubscription, demonstrates Seplat’s strong underlying business fundamentals and is further testament to the strength of our relationship with our continuing and new lenders. The amended facility, and recent resumption of exports via the Forcados terminal, will enable the business to rebuild cash on its balance sheet as we seek to strengthen our capital structure to ensure a strong platform for future growth”.