Bowen Coking Coal secures revised debt terms

Bowen Coking Coal has secured revised repayment terms with lenders New Hope Corporation and Taurus Mining Finance Fund No. 2. Chief executive officer Daryl Edwards said the agreed changes gave the company headroom on debt repayment while it secured additional liquidity during the transition from the Ellensfield South mine to Plumtree North at its Burton operations. "Plumtree North is planned to provide run-of-mine coal for the next five years," he said. "The Burton operations are performing well with steady-state production and ample stockpiles and we are grateful to our financiers for recognising this. "The team has worked hard to achieve steady-state operations at the Burton complex and made great strides in addressing costs across the board. Our focus remains on our ongoing cost reduction and performance improvement plan to drive further savings in the face of recent coal price reductions.” The Heads of Agreement between Bowen Coking Coal and its lenders provides for a deferral of principal loan repayments and extension of tenor, as well as a material reduction in interest and royalty costs. This comes in return for a minimum $25 million equity raise and no insolvency event. The company has reported improved financial results for 2023/24 compared to the previous financial year, apart from cash on hand. Revenues and other income lifted 114 per cent to $450.2 million (compared to $209.9 million the previous year), its full-year statutory accounts show. The company reported an operating loss before income tax and net finance expenses of $68.8 million, compared to a loss of $152.8 million the previous year. Closing cash on hand of $21.7 million was 56 per cent down on the previous year. The company said its operating loss for the year ended June 30 2024 was driven primarily by the under-performing Bluff mine, with $54.6 million of the loss already incurred in the first six months of the financial year. The company made the decision to place that mine into care and maintenance in November 2023. While the group’s financial performance started to turn around in the second half of the financial year after Bluff transitioned into care and maintenance, the company said this was offset by steeply falling coal prices. The hard coking coal premium low volatile (PLV) price decreased 27 per cent from $US324/t at the end of December 2023 to $US234/t at June 2024 close. This severely impacted profit margins given the weighting of metallurgical coal in the group’s product mix, Bowen Coking Coal said. You may also like: https://industryqld.com.au/coal-royalties-locked-in-under-new-legislation/

Bowen Coking Coal secures revised debt terms

Industry Queensland

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