Once-hot Chilean telco WOM now a bondholder’s headache

Difficult times: The control room that remotely operates the Gemini South Observatory in La Serena, Chile, is all digitally lit up. Things are not looking so good for WOW Chile with the telco’s talks with banks to lock in funding have dragging out for a year. — AFP

SANTIAGO: WOM Chile, once a rising telecom startup that the bond market couldn’t get enough of, now has investors searching for answers about how it plans to refinance US$348mil in debt due this year.

The mobile operator stunned bondholders this week by delaying the release of its fourth-quarter results and accompanying conference call, set for today, without rescheduling it. Indicative pricing shows bids for 2024 notes at 68 US cents on the dollar, down from 75 US cents last Friday.