MAKING STRIDES
SCB expects to finalise financial restructuring and the debt management plan of Pace Development Corporation by Q3.
Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) expects to finalise financial restructuring and the debt management plan of beleaguered Pace Development Corporation Plc by the third quarter.
Pace’s financial restructuring and debt management plan has made great strides under the collaboration between the bank and the customer, said SCB co-president Sarut Ruttanaporn.
Business rehabilitation and asset sales have been used for debt management, he said.
“We are picking options that are the best for both the bank and the client,” Mr Sarut said. “Several residential projects, especially the luxury condo Nimit Langsuan, are ready for sale, and this would support the company’s liquidity and help it service the bank’s loan.”
Pace informed the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) last November that the Nimit Langsuan project was scheduled to start transfers in the second quarter of 2020.
The project value is 8 billion baht with a total of 187 units, of which 171 units or 93% were sold for a total amount of 7.03 billion baht.
SCB has separately arranged financial restructuring and a debt management plan for Pace’s property and food and beverage ventures.
For the gourmet food and beverage business under the Dean & DeLuca brand, the bank is counselling prudence after US operations for the brand entered a rehabilitation plan.
But Mr Sarut affirmed that Pace’s recent debt default would not cause the bank’s non-performing loans to spike, nor deal a blow to overall business operations, because SCB has set aside a loan-loss provision to cover the property developer’s debt in full.
Pace owes 11 billion baht to SCB for loans and debentures, of which 7 billion baht is collateral-backed borrowing. The company’s bondholder meeting last November approved extending the maturity date of the debentures for another three years, from this month to Feb 23, 2023, whereby the issuer can redeem before the maturity date either wholly or in part.
Bondholders also approved
amending the debentures’ interest rate payment conditions, allowing Pace to pay 3% a year on a quarterly basis, starting May 23, 2020, with another 3.5% paid on the redemption date. The bondholders also approved delaying interest payments set in November 2019 to no later than Feb 23, 2023.
SCB shares closed Friday on the SET at 87.25 baht, down 1.75 baht, in trade worth 166 million baht. PACE shares closed at 0.06 baht, up one satang, in trade worth 1.3 million baht.