LONDON (Alliance News) - Sirius Real Estate Ltd Wednesday said it has traded in line with management expectations in the first half of its financial year and has made progress in reducing its debt burden, including extending repayment deadlines on one of its loans.
The company, which owns and operates business parks, offices and industrial complexes across Germany, said overall demand for space from its key small- and medium-sized business customers had remained constant in the period.
In August Sirius reduced its major bank loan of EUR208 million when it raised EUR52 million by issuing a bond secured against four Berlin properties and raised a further EUR6.5 million through a share placing.
It said Wednesday that the loan stood at EUR149.4 million at the end of September as it used the funds from the bond and share placing to pay down the facility.
It added that it had reduced another bank loan to EUR31.3 million, from EUR49.2 million, while the lender, Royal Bank of Scotland, had agreed in principle to extend the repayment term to the end of November 2013 and given the company the option to extend repayment of the last EUR5 million to the end of February 2014. The extensions have been agreed at similar terms to previous extensions, Sirius said.
"The Company intends to repay the outstanding amounts through a combination of refinancing and cash generated from the disposals of non-core properties. The final EUR5 million loan is expected to be secured against a single asset which is currently being marketed for sale in separate lots," Sirius said in a statement.
Sirius Real Estate shares last traded at 0.26 pence.
By Steve McGrath; stevemcgrath@alliancenews.com; @SteveMcGrath1
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Sirius Real Estate (SRE)