Indonesian airline Garuda reduces debt owed to bondholders by $114 million

JAKARTA : Indonesia’s state flag carrier Garuda Indonesia said late on Thursday that it has paid back $113.8 million of the debt it owes to bondholders as part of its restructuring process.

In 2022, the airline won creditors’ approval to restructure more than $9 billion of debt after it faced financial difficulties due to among others COVID-19-related travel curbs.

Garuda said in a statement that it settled $113.8 million worth of debt to bondholders after completing two tender offers. Using tender offers meant the airline only had to pay around $50 million to settle the $113.8 million.

“We hope that this initiative could improve our capital structure, so it can become healthier,” Garuda Indonesia’s President Director Irfan Setiaputra said, adding the debt was paid using the company’s internal cash.

A company generally does a debt tender offer to retire its bonds at less than the original face value and by doing so it also reduces the interest costs.

The settlement was related to Garuda’s U.S dollar bonds, some of which are in the form of Islamic notes, with a total principal amount at $624.21 million, Garuda said.

The bonds were issued for Garuda’s creditors as part of the restructuring agreement.

Following the partial settlement, the remaining principals for the bonds is at $501 million, the airline added.