SingTel avails $3.7b credit facilities

Loan to finance operations following a 2.3% drop in fourth-quarter profit last month on lower contributions from its overseas units and slowing local growth.

Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., Southeast Asia’s biggest phone company, signed about S$3.7 billion ($3 billion) of revolving credit facilities to fund operations and refinance debt.

The facilities consist of a three-year S$2.16 billion loan with 12 banks and an A$1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) loan of similar maturity with another group of 12 banks, according to a Singapore stock exchange statement.

SingTel reported a 2.3 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit last month on lower contributions from its businesses in India and Indonesia and slowing growth at home. The company owns stakes in operators in more than 10 countries in Asia and has 402.5 million mobile phone customers.

Shares in SingTel, which is owned 54.4 percent by Temasek Holdings Pte, rose 2.3 percent to S$3.16 at the close of trading in the city-state.

Contracts insuring the company’s debt against a default increased to 87.27 basis points on June 28, the highest in at least a year, prices from data provider CMA show. The contracts protect investors from losses when a company or government fails to pay its debt. Traders use them to speculate on credit quality. CMA is owned by CME Group Inc. and compiles prices quoted by dealers in the privately negotiated market.

In March, SingTel raised $600 million selling 4.5 percent bonds maturing in September 2021. The notes were trading at 100.44 cents on the dollar to yield 4.445 percent today, ING Groep NV prices show.

View the full story in Business Week.