Malaysian billionaire T. Ananda Krishnan’s Bumi Armada Bhd. is nearing an agreement for a loan of around US$500 million, people with knowledge of the matter said, in a deal that will give the embattled energy firm more time to restructure.
Bumi Armada swung to a loss last year as lower crude prices hurt demand for its offshore oilfield services, making it more difficult for the company to pay back its debt. The company had RM10.4 billion of total borrowings at the end of December, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Shares of Bumi Armada rose as much as 5.4 percent in Monday morning trading. They were up 2.7 percent to 0.19 ringgit at the mid-day break in Kuala Lumpur, on track for the biggest gain in a week.
Shares of Bumi Armada tanked 80 percent last year, while the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index declined 5.9 percent. The company reported a net loss of RM2.3 billion in 2018, compared with a net income of RM352.2 million a year earlier.