INDEPENDENT NEWS & Media has taken sufficient action to address the company’s indebtedness for the next few years, and any further deleveraging will take place by way of cashflow rather than further debt restructuring, the company’s chief financial officer Donal Buggy said yesterday.
Speaking after the company’s two extraordinary general meetings (egms) yesterday, at which shareholders voted in favour of the restructuring plan, chief executive Gavin O’Reilly said its endorsement by shareholders brought to a close a nine-month restructuring process. He added that the company had “no plans” to sell further assets to pay off debt.
“The restructuring is completed as of today. IN&M is an extremely profitable company . . . the debt restructuring negotiated with the banks has given us a 4½-year flexibility. The real key for us is when the economy will start to recover.”
Despite the successful conclusion of the debt for equity deal with bondholders, IN&M still has €1.1 billion in bank and bond debt on its balance sheet.
Mr Buggy said yesterday the company would see its debt levels decrease through cashflow operations in the next few years.
“We have a new bank facility in place which takes into account our existing leverage levels. They are on the high side, and we do want to deleverage further, but we will get that through operating cashflow going forward over the next couple of years. We are a profitable, cash-generative business, so we’ll naturally deleverage over time,” he said.
Yesterday’s meeting was the company’s third and fourth egms this month.
On November 3rd and November 13th, shareholders voted against resolutions put forward by minority shareholder Denis O’Brien to remove the company’s chairman and one of the board’s directors – and to revoke the directors’ power to allot and issue shares.
Yesterday, in two separate meetings, shareholders voted in favour of two resolutions proposed by the board as part of the company’s restructuring plan – to proceed with a rights issue and to sell the company’s South African advertising business, INM Outdoor.
While none of Denis O’Brien’s representatives on the board were at yesterday’s meetings, a representative of Mr O’Brien, John Ryall, was in attendance. He voted against the resolution to proceed with a second rights issue, but abstained from the vote on the disposal of INM Outdoor.
Separately, the company announced yesterday it is appointing German newspaper executive Lothar Lanz as a non-executive director of the company with immediate effect.
Mr Lanz (61) is chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Axel Springer, Germany’s largest newspaper company. He will replace Kenneth Clarke, who has been a non-executive member of the board of IN&M since 1999.
