BANGKOK — As part of its effort to improve credit risk management, SET-listed digital finance firm Group Lease PCL (‘GL’, SET: GL) has secured pre-payment of loan principal and accrued interest totaling US$13.6 mil, or 453.2 mil baht, from its Cyprus borrowers.
In an official filing with the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) today (8/28), GL said the pre-payment comprised of three loan agreements with Cyprus-based Adalene Ltd with total principal amounting to US$13.13 mil (436.9 mil baht), plus accrued interest of US$489,158 (16.3 mil baht). The pre-payment was made with GL Holdings (GLH), GL’s wholly-owned subsidiary in Singapore.
As a result of the pre-payment, a pledge of 11.5 mil GL shares made with GLH has been released.
Following the pre-payment, the remaining outstanding principal of the Cyprus borrowers now amounts to US$16.5 mil, or 547.5 mil baht, plus accrued interest of US$326,202, or 10.8 mil baht. The Cyprus borrowers include Adalene Ltd and AREF Holdings Ltd.
According to Mr. Tatsuya Konoshita, chairman of GL’s executive committee, the pre-payment of the Cyprus loans was made in the best interest of GL since the principal was paid earlier, but the pre-payment included all interest until September 30.
“GL is currently expanding into the high-potential Myanmar market with higher interest rates of more than 40% as compared to the average 15% from the (Cyprus) borrowers. We have already begun to shift the new funds to support our business expansion in Myanmar,” Mr. Konoshita stated.
For the remaining Cyprus loans of US$16.5 mil, GL now has secured collateral value of US$23.7 mil, or a collateral coverage ratio of 144%.
Meanwhile, GL’s remaining loans to another group of SME borrowers in Singapore amounting to US$39.6 mil are covered by collateral value of US$48.8 mil, representing a coverage ratio of 123%.
Mr. Konoshita noted that there are no longer any GL shares in collateral from both the Cyprus and Singapore borrowers. He added that these loans have been secured, with no overdue from the beginning until now.
“The (Cyprus and Singapore) borrowers have sufficient ability to pay, as GL has stated in the past,” he added.