Bankruptcy court grants lifeline to Energy Earth

The Central Bankruptcy Court dismissed the temporary seizure order issued by the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court for Energy Earth Plc’s deposit account opened with a financial institution, intending for the company to continue operating under a business rehabilitation plan.

“Furthermore, as the company has filed a petition for the business rehabilitation process, it is protected by law for a debt moratorium,” said Energy Earth in its statement to the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET).

“To benefit the company’s rehabilitation process and continue business operations, the Central Bankruptcy Court has granted the company permission to pay for necessary expenses incurred after the filing of its rehabilitation request to [maintain] operations during the rehabilitation process.”

Earlier, Krungthai Bank (KTB) president Payong Srivanich said Energy Earth’s creditors had not reached a conclusion on whether they would vote in favour of the business rehabilitation plan proposed by the cash-strapped coal trader.

KTB, Energy Earth’s largest creditor, will wait for additional information from the first court hearing slated for Sept 18 before making a decision, said Mr Payong.

The company’s liabilities of 46.5 billion baht outpace its 31.8 billion in assets, making it eligible to file a business rehabilitation petition with the court.

According to Energy Earth’s recent filing to the SET, the company has a 26-billion-baht provision for contingent liabilities, 11 billion in debt owed to financial institutions, 5.5 billion stemming from bond issuance, 2.4 billion from bills of exchange, 938 million from trade accounts payable and other payables, and 1.21 billion for short-term loans offered through its subsidiaries.

Apart from KTB, Energy Earth has another three bank creditors: Kasikornbank, Bank of Ayudhya and the ExportImport Bank of Thailand.