Indus claims progress in debt restructuring talks

By Ruli Setiawan

ASX-listed Indus Coal Limited said it has made significant progress with financiers to restructure the terms of its two existing bond issues and expects to be in a position to announce the finalization of this process shortly.

?The board has also worked closely and cooperatively with its creditors to allow the company additional time to pursue capital raising alternatives given the challenging market conditions,? the company said in an update statement Tuesday.

As announced on July 21, the board is seeking to finalize a capital raising which will provide an interim funding solution whilst its 38-percent Indonesian coal subsidiary PT Berlian Mahkota Coal (BMC) and its joint venture partner, a Tier 1 Chinese construction and engineering company which has a specialization in the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of projects involved in the generation, transmission and distribution of electric power, seek to become a successful independent power producer (IPP) in Indonesia for a new thermal coal fired steam power plant located in Sumatra Indonesia.

?In that regard, the board wishes to advise that its securities remain suspended at the request of the company pending the release of an announcement regarding the debt restructuring and capital raising terms by 15 September 2015,? Indus said.

BMC is the 100 percent owner of the Blok 9 coal concession in Central Tebo District, Tebo Regency, Jambi. The concession has an estimated JORC resource of 94,000,000 tons of thermal coal.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak