Thursday, Jun 09, 2016

Abu Dhabi - Emirates airline said on Thursday that it has repaid a bond in full for the value of $1 billion on its maturity date of June 8.

The bond was raised in 2011 to address Emirates’ working capital requirements, and was a bullet bond [a debt instrument whose entire face value is paid at once on the maturity date].

Emirates will also be repaying a bond totaling 150 million Singapore dollars later this month that was raised in 2006, the airline said in a statement, addiong that it is repaying both bonds from its own cash resources.

By the end of 2016, Emirates will have repaid six bonds and sukuks in full over the course of the last five years totaling $2.84 billion.

“The repayment of these bonds illustrates Emirates’ continued ability to access international funding and garner support from financial markets and institutions…Our strong business model and long-term financing strategy will position Emirates to unlock further growth with the delivery of 36 aircraft this financial year,” Shaikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman and chief executive officer of Emirates Airline and Group, said in a statement.

In 2015-16, Emirates raised $7.3 billion for aircraft financing. For the current 2016-17 financial year, the airline said it has already received committed offers to finance deliveries.

In November 2015 during the Dubai Airshow, Shaikh Ahmad said Emirates is looking into issuing $1 billion worth of bonds this year in order to finance new aircraft that are set for delivery.

Last month, Emirates announced it recorded Dh7.1 billion in net profit for the financial year ending March 31, 2016. The figure marks a 56 per cent increase over the Dh4.6 billion net profit recorded in the previous year.

The airline said its financial performance was boosted by a 28 per cent drop in oil prices after it opted out of price hedging against crude.

Staff Report

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