JAKARTA - PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (GIAA) takes USD 50 million out of its internal cash in order to pay off bonds and sukuk to its creditors via tender offer as a part of its Suspension of Debt Payment Obligation (PKPU) process.

Irfan Setiaputra, President Director of GIAA, mentioned that this obligation payment to creditors is intended to improve GIAA’s equity. “Active management of assets, liabilities, and equity aims to optimise cashflow effectiveness and fundamental of operational activities,” he added in the information disclosure quoted today (7/12).

Setiaputra, recently awarded the Most Admired CEO in Turnaround by Tempo-IDNFinancials, mentioned that the money used to pay off obligations will not cover interest payment. “The company’s cashflow management policy is prioritised, among others, to pay off obligations owed to creditors,” he stated.

In Q3 2023, GIAA recorded total assets of USD 6.15 billion, close to total assets recorded in December 2022 of USD 6.23 billion. For cash and cash equivalent, GIAA booked USD 351.81 million, down from USD 521.68 million seen in December 2022. Total liabilities were also stable at IDR 7.76 billion, not budging from total liabilities seen in December 2022 of USD 7.77 billion. Within this post, recorded outstanding obligations worth USD 735.98 million.

According to Setiaputra, the company will become more agile, yet prudent, by ensuring this obligation payment to creditors. This effort, he said, has put in consideration of current volatility of the market, as well as increase of interest in the USD market.

It is mentioned that the tender offer will take place until next week (15/12), before the payment that is set on December 21. “It also represents the commitment of Garuda Indonesia to move adaptively to optimise improvement of operational fundamental by paying close attention to macroeconomic outlook to maintain momentum of performance turnaround,” he explained. (LK/ZH)