LONDON: Creditors to Ukraine’s largest poultry producer MHP SE has agreed to grant the company an extra nine months to make interest payments on US$1.4bil (RM5.89bil) of bonds.
A majority of bondholders voted in favour of extending the grace period on coupon payments to 300 days, said the company in a statement.
The company won’t be able to raise more debt and will have restrictions in using its cash in this period.
Ukrainian companies have been seeking to save cash after Russia invaded the country in February, disrupting their business.
MHP skipped a coupon payment on March 19 as it sought to preserve liquidity ahead of a sowing campaign.
Kernel Holding SA, another Ukraine-based farming company, is in talks with its bank lenders to postpone loan repayment through to September.
“We have had enormous support from all stakeholders,” Dr John Rich, executive chairman of MHP, said in a phone interview with Bloomberg.
“Now the key thing for MHP is to plant its crops.
“We are going to be planting spring crops and harvesting the winter crops we have in the ground.”
All three of MHP’s dollar bonds, downgraded to default level by S&P Global Ratings last week, traded at about 40 US cents (RM1.68) on the dollar at press time.
As MHP readies to start the sowing campaign in early April, it is also restarting exports, resorting to trucks as the conflict with Russia cut the company off from its usual seaborne shipment routes, management said in an interview with Bloomberg News last week.
The company had US$228mil (RM958.51mil) of cash as of March 21, management said. — Bloomberg
