Fortescue Plays Down Urgency to Refinance Debt

Reuters reported that Australian miner Fortescue Metals Group (ASX:FMG) has played down the urgency to refinance its debt, citing the reason that its mines are still generating money despite the downslide in iron ore prices to their lowest level since 2008.

As quoted in the market news,

The company had a number of options to refinance, including seeking a new term loan or high yield debt, Chief Executive Nev Power said, the week after the world no.4 iron ore miner scrapped a $2.5 billion bond sale.

Fortescue had hoped to raise the funds to help pay off bonds due in 2017, 2018 and 2019, push out its debt deadlines to the next decade and cut interest costs to help it ride out weak iron ore prices.

Chief Executive of Fortescue, Nev Power stated:

We will make sure we consider our options and take a disciplined approach. We don’t need to rush.

We are still making a reasonably good cash margin. One of the keys is that depending on the iron ore price, we can use cash flow from our operation to continue to repay debt.

Click here for the full Reuters report