22-04-2016

CME Refinances Ahead of Quarterly Announcement

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    PRAGUE: Central European Media Enterprises has completed a refinancing transaction to extend a credit facility agreement and a term loan, with the intention of decreasing the company’s financial leverage.

    The transaction also included a new 469 m EUR senior unsecured term credit facility agreement which is guaranteed by CME parent organization Time Warner. The loan will be used to finance CME notes and a term loan.

    A one-year extension, to November 2018, applies to a 251 m EUR term loan of 251 m EUR, and the maturity date of CME’s 115 m USD revolving credit facility has been extended from 2017 to 2021 with access to 50 m USD of liquidity from 2018.

    Co- CEO’s Michael Del Nin and Christoph Mainusch said in a statement: “The cost on approximately half of our debt is immediately reduced by 450 basis points as a result of this transaction, with the potential to automatically improve on that as our net leverage ratio declines further. The savings from the lower cost of servicing our debt, together with continued improvement in our operations and the expected proceeds from warrant exercises in the future, put us on a clear path to delever the company.”

    CME stock, which trades on NASDAQ, has already risen to a one year high, currently standing at 2.82 USD, nearly 30 percent above its July and November lows of just under 2.00 USD. CME, which operates 36 TV stations in six CEE countries, will announce 2016 first quarter earnings on 27 April. In its 2015 annual report, CME noted a 6 percent increase in TV advertising revenues.