Company Announcements

British Airways receives commitments £2.0bn UKEF

Source: RNS
RNS Number : 3288K
International Cons Airlines Group
31 December 2020
 

British Airways receives commitments for £2.0 billion UK Export Finance guaranteed 5-year loan facility

International Airlines Group (IAG) announces that British Airways has received commitments for a 5-year term-loan Export Development Guarantee Facility of £2.0 billion underwritten by a syndicate of banks, partially guaranteed by UK Export Finance (UKEF). British Airways expects to drawdown the facility in January 2021 subject to agreement of final terms with the lenders and UKEF.

UKEF is the UK's export credit agency and provides the Export Development Guarantee to support the working capital and capital expenditure needs of UK exporters that meet certain criteria.

British Airways is entitled to repay the loan at any time on notice. The arrangement contains some non-financial covenants, including restrictions on dividend payments by the airline to IAG.

The proceeds from the UKEF facility will be used to enhance liquidity and provide British Airways with the operational and strategic flexibility to take advantage of a partial recovery in demand for air travel in 2021 as COVID-19 vaccines are distributed worldwide.

IAG continues to have strong liquidity with cash and undrawn facilities of €8.0 billion as at 30 November, excluding the UKEF facility.

In addition to the UKEF facility, the Group is exploring other debt initiatives to improve further its liquidity and will update the market in due course.

 Stephen Gunning

Chief Financial Officer

 

31 December 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LEI: 959800TZHQRUSH1ESL13

This announcement contains inside information and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under the Market Abuse Regulation

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy Policy.
 
END
 
 
MSCEAAAFDLLEFFA