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Source: ONE News -
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Skycity has bought back a further $US62.5 million ($NZ94.3 million) of its March 2012 maturity US private placement debt, taking the total of the debt bought back to $US115.5 million.
Chief financial officer Alistair Ryan said the buyback, at an average discounted price of US99 cents, significantly enhanced Skycity's overall debt position and profile.
The latest buy back, completed on August 10, was at par of $US1, while the earlier buy back of $US53 million was at a discounted pricing of US98 cents.
Skycity chief executive Nigel Morrison said the buyback of March 2012 US debt, worth $177 million in New Zealand dollars, effectively used the capital raised from a placement made in April.
Skycity's equity raising and debt repayment programme had reduced its US debt maturing in March 2012 by 40%.
It had also reduced Skycity's net debt position by 29% to $680 million and reduced the company's gearing ratio - net debt to ebitda - from 3.3 times to 2.3 times, Morrison said.
Ryan said that since July 1, 2008, Skycity had retired a total of $306 million of debt, including the US private placement debt and a bank facility of $129 million repaid last December.
There had been no adverse foreign currency or interest rate exposures arising from the early retirement of the US debt, due to the company's currency and interest rate hedging policies.
