Seoul: South Korea's C&Group has revealed that it is considering carrying out debt rescheduling with its creditor bank as one of the options to improve its current financial situation. The parent of shipbuilder C& Heavy Industries (C&HI), which is due to make a large, previously deferred interest payment next month, told the Seoul Stock Exchange that this was one of the methods taken into account but that no final decision had been made.
According to reports from the South Korean media, C&Group owes 600bn won ($479.8m) in loans payable, bringing repayments with interest to about 10bn won a month - well beyond the group's current financial ability. However, it has rejected the notion of a joint bailout, insisting that it had sufficient disposable assets and options for external funding to pull through the current economic downturn.
The global financial crisis has meant that the group has already experienced difficulties securing a syndicated loan totalling 170bn won from domestic banks earlier this year, and was also unable to sell its steel business division. It is currently attempting to sell its second shipyard, Shinu Shipbuilding & Marine, under construction on Koje Island, and put a halt to construction of and work at its Mokpo shipyard since August. [30/10/08]
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