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'Nieuwe obligatielening kan niet gebruikt worden voor begrotingsfinanciering'
De regering heeft nieuwe staatsobligaties uitgegeven en daarmee 125 miljoen Amerikaanse dollar opgehaald om de Afobaka-waterkrachtcentrale eind deze maand van Alcoa/Suralco te kunnen overnemen. Dat is woensdag gemeld door diverse internationale financiële media (zie onderaan), zo bericht vandaag, donderdag 19 december 2019, onder andere de Ware Tijd.
De nieuwe obligaties vervallen over achttien maanden en zijn uitgegeven tegen een rente van 9,875 procent. De terugbetaling vindt in acht gelijke termijnen plaats. De regering heeft hierover nog geen mededelingen gedaan.
Omdat de vorige staatsobligaties die in 2026 vervallen vanwege verslechterde fiscale omstandigheden in Suriname voor minder dan de waarde bij uitgifte worden verkocht, moest de regering omzichtig te werk gaan bij de verkoop van de nieuwe obligaties, wordt gemeld.
Wat aanvankelijk werd gepresenteerd als een overbruggingslening van 150 miljoen Amerikaanse dollar voor de duur van achttien maanden, werd uiteindelijk een obligatielening van 125 miljoen Amerikaanse dollar met vervaldatum in 2023 en terugbetaling in acht termijnen. Bovendien zal de aflossing worden gedekt door een offshore-rekening die rechtstreeks gevoed word door dividend van Staatsolie en betalingen door goudproducent IAmGold.
Obligatiehouders hebben hun bezorgdheid geuit over het trackrecord van Suriname waarbij in aanloop naar verkiezingen de overheidsuitgaven steeds toenemen en met verkiezingen die mei volgend jaar moeten plaatsvinden, kan de nieuwe obligatielening niet gebruikt worden voor begrotingsfinanciering, meent Thomas Jackson, analist bij Oppenheimer & Co. De staat moet ongeveer 120 miljoen Amerikaanse dollar aan Alcoa/Suralco betalen voor achterstallige stroomleverantie.
Beheerd door Wilmington Trust, zal de offshore-escrow-account couponbetalingen bieden voor de obligatielening die in 2026 vervalt alsook voor uitbetalingen voor de nieuwe lening. Intussen is de waarde van de vorige obligatie met bijna 25 procent afgenomen. 'We hebben gezien dat obligaties verhandeld werden voor Amerikaanse dollar 75,70', zegt Jackson.
MarketAxess registreerde de laatste transacties voor de obligaties die in 2026 vervallen afgelopen vrijdag op ongeveer 70,45 cent per de dollar, bijna 30 procent minder in waarde dan bij de uitgifte in 2016. Waarnemers maken zich zorgen om de financiële situatie in Suriname.
'Fiscale losbandigheid voorafgaand aan de verkiezingen roept de vraag op van een devaluatie later in 2020 met een evenredig effect op de obligatiekoersen', zei Nathalie Marshik van Stifel.
Beleggers hebben eerder geklaagd over een gebrek aan beschikbare informatie over Suriname, en de regering heeft toegezegd driemaandelijks investeerders-calls te houden 'om de transparantie te vergroten en de communicatielijnen te verbeteren', aldus Oppenheimer.
https://www.globalcapital.com/article/b1jj3cj7hy5z81/suriname-26s-edge-tighter-on-dam-financing
Suriname 26s edge tighter on dam financing
Suriname’s outstanding 2026s traded
up this week, after the government clinched $125m of short-term
financing that includes coupon payment support for existing bonds and
lays the ground for fiscal savings via an electricity reform.
Despite the 2026s trading at distressed
levels, and even though the president was sentenced to 20 years in jail
for murder in late November, Suriname issued $125m of new amortising
bonds.
The 9.25% 2026s had slipped from above par at the start of the year to the 70s owing to fiscal deterioration, so the sovereign had to work carefully to sell the new bond. What was initially posited as a $150m 18 month bullet deal became a $125m bond maturing in 2023 and amortising in eight equal payments.
Suriname priced the B2/B/B- rated 9.875% 2023 notes at 95 cents on the dollar to yield 12.5%.
Debt service will be covered by an offshore account that will directly collect dividends from state oil company Staatsolie as well as cash flows from major miner IAMGold.
Herein lies the first positive for the 2026s: funds from the escrow account — to be managed by Wilmington Trust — will be directed straight to coupon payments on the 2026s as well as amortisation payments on the 2023s.
Thomas Jackson, EM sovereign research analyst at Oppenheimer, therefore feels the structure of the new deal “should be constructive” for the existing bonds.
“Already, we have seen bonds trade up at 75.70 as of publication,” he said in a note on Tuesday evening, a level echoed by data from MarketAxess. At this level, the bonds yield 15.05%. Last week they closed at 70.45.
Bondholders have previously expressed
concern about Suriname’s track record of increasing spending in the
run-up to elections, and presidential elections are due in May. Proceeds
from the new issue, at least, cannot be used for budgetary financing.
The government owes Alcoa about $120m in energy production arrears, which it must pay ahead of taking over the dam — the largest power station in the country, with an installed capacity of 189 MW.
Finance minister Gillmore Hoefdraad told GlobalCapital in October that the government needed financing to purchase the dam and “place the electricity reform on a secure financial footing”.
Energy subsidies equated to about 5% of GDP in 2018 and accounted for two-thirds of the fiscal deficit, said Hoefdraad at the time. The reform will see generation assets come under centralised ownership and management, and eventually eliminate subsidies at the consumer level, said the minister.
The 9.25% 2026s had slipped from above par at the start of the year to the 70s owing to fiscal deterioration, so the sovereign had to work carefully to sell the new bond. What was initially posited as a $150m 18 month bullet deal became a $125m bond maturing in 2023 and amortising in eight equal payments.
Suriname priced the B2/B/B- rated 9.875% 2023 notes at 95 cents on the dollar to yield 12.5%.
Debt service will be covered by an offshore account that will directly collect dividends from state oil company Staatsolie as well as cash flows from major miner IAMGold.
Herein lies the first positive for the 2026s: funds from the escrow account — to be managed by Wilmington Trust — will be directed straight to coupon payments on the 2026s as well as amortisation payments on the 2023s.
Thomas Jackson, EM sovereign research analyst at Oppenheimer, therefore feels the structure of the new deal “should be constructive” for the existing bonds.
“Already, we have seen bonds trade up at 75.70 as of publication,” he said in a note on Tuesday evening, a level echoed by data from MarketAxess. At this level, the bonds yield 15.05%. Last week they closed at 70.45.
Any
concerns bondholders had about Suriname raising more debt could be
assuaged by the smaller issue size, which means the government will
receive just the right amount of funds to acquire the Afobaka dam from
US mining firm Alcoa.
The government owes Alcoa about $120m in energy production arrears, which it must pay ahead of taking over the dam — the largest power station in the country, with an installed capacity of 189 MW.
Finance minister Gillmore Hoefdraad told GlobalCapital in October that the government needed financing to purchase the dam and “place the electricity reform on a secure financial footing”.
Energy subsidies equated to about 5% of GDP in 2018 and accounted for two-thirds of the fiscal deficit, said Hoefdraad at the time. The reform will see generation assets come under centralised ownership and management, and eventually eliminate subsidies at the consumer level, said the minister.
Nathalie Marshik, head of EM sovereign
research at Stifel, had said before the deal that finding finance “would
be positive as we believe the handover of the dam is an important step
in the electricity reform”.
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