Bumi creditors extend debt payment postponement

Creditors of IDX-listed coal giant PT Bumi Resources Tbk agreed on Monday to postpone debt payment by the company for another 21 days until June 30 as verification process of creditors and their claims have yet to be completed, reports said on Tuesday.

Kontan said that so far 142 creditors have been verified, but 72 creditors with combined claims of Rp 29 trillion have yet to be verified.

The paper quoted Bumi lawyer Aji Wijaya as saying that company outstanding debts may exceed US$9 billion amid claims from bondholders coming from three different parties including individuals, trustees, and company subsidiary. It was reported previously that Bumi?s debts were estimated at $4 billion.

He added that Bumi is still in the process of verification of debts owed to Credit Suisse AG, Deutsche Bank AG, and Raiffeisen Bank International.

The Central Jakarta Commercial Court has granted a debt payment postponement (or locally known as PKPU) by a Bumi creditor.

Under a PKPU, a company will be given an opportunity to propose a debt settlement to all of its creditors, a restructuring process supervised by the court. If the company fails to obtain creditors' approval for the debt settlement proposal, the court will declare the company bankrupt.

Despite the PKPU, Bumi continues to seek an out of court settlement. (*)