Shortly after confirming the sale of a $1.5bn stake in its Australian arm, officials at DP World have claimed that the company is on track to meet both short- and long-term debt obligations.
“The short-term debt obligation for 2012 is only $3bn and after the closing of this transaction, we would have almost $4bn in cash,” DP World chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem told reporters in a conference call on Wednesday.
“There really is enough cash to see us through that short-term debt”.
Chief financial officer Yuvraj Narayan also confirmed that DP World’s total net debt amounted to $5.9bn.
“Apart from the $3bn due in 2012, $1.5bn is due in 2017, with the final $1.75bn due in 2027,” he said.
DP World officials also said that they had no plans to divest any other ports or operations. The world’s third-largest ports firm is also its most diverse, with ports infrastructure in every continent.
Although DP World is part of troubled conglomerate Dubai World, it was ring-fenced in early talks from the latter’s debt restructuring.
In November, Moody’s changed its outlook on the terminals giant from stable to positive, citing the solid performance and the company’s deleveraging process.
DP World is planning to list on the London Stock Exchange in the second quarter of 2011.
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