Steinhoff International Holdings is seeking another extension to restructure almost $12bn of debt as the retailer strives to keep shop doors open and increase the value of some of its assets.
The way the debt restructuring has been put together “is to avoid fire sales and to rather give the company a few years to run the business and see what value it can get,” Charles Allen, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said on Wednesday. The shares slumped 6.1% as of 1.38pm in Frankfurt on Wednesday, extending the loss since the start of the crisis to 97%. The yield on the €800m of bonds due January 2025 was little changed.Steinhoff’s payment-in-kind interest payments of about 10% on the €10.4bn of gross debt means “equity holders are unlikely to even receive crumbs”, Allen said.
Steinhoff’s assets were valued at €16.4bn as of September, compared with €17.5bn the previous year, the company said in a presentation on its website. The retailer had previously made €15.3bn of writedowns because of accounting irregularities, as former management led by ex-CEO Markus Jooste allegedly oversaw a series of related-party transactions that inflated profit and asset values.