TCL moves to clear off TT$260 million debt
Local and regional cement producer Trinidad Cement Ltd has taken another step towards getting rid of a TT$260 million debt.
The group, which operates in Trinidad, Jamaica and Barbados, announced a debt restructuring exercise after it posted a TT$55 million net loss to group shareholders in its third quarter last September.
A published statement from the board of directors earlier this week indicated that the debt restructuring exercise was undertaken to allow operations from the lower income streams resulting from the “severe effect of the current economic decline in all our markets”.
TCL has accumulated TT$260 million in debt over several years, about half of which is related to modernisation of one of its plants.
Economic contractions in all its markets caused by the global decline, a fall in construction as well as other issues like dumping of cement in Jamaica have all affected the company, the company said.
A creditor committee comprising large domestic and international institutional lenders representing 75 per cent of TCL Group’s total debt has been established to address the debt.
An independent adviser has been hired to assess the group’s cash- generating capability, the directors’ statement said. TCL, the committee and the adviser will discuss a revised business plan and it is expected that the debt restructuring will continue until all debts are restructured.
Until that time the group has declared a moratorium on debt service payments, the directors said.
The debt restructure is intended to improve the group’s long-term prospects and provide for full repayment of its indebtedness, the directors said.
