The Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) debt restructure deal will result in an 18-month debt moratorium for its Jamaican subsidiary Caribbean Cement Company, according to general manager Anthony Haynes in discussion with shareholders Thursday.

The TCL debt ’re-profiling’ will take effect by the end of September and follows six months of negotiation by TCL, said Haynes at Caribbean Cement’s annual general meeting held in Kingston.
"The debt re-profiling has given us an 18-month window to stabilise the company," said Haynes in his address.

Caribbean Cement has J$1 billion in negative working capital as at March 2011, which meant it had in insufficient coverage for short-term debt. Its long-term debt, due mainly to its parent, stands at J$2.3 billion. Its quarterly financial reports do not reveal its loan repayments; the disclosures are made at each yearend.

Additionally, the company’s cash and equivalents are relatively low at J$71 million and it recorded a J$249 million loss in its first quarter 2011, hurt by competition from ’dumped’ cement and the weak economy.
Advertisement