Singer to raise funds to tackle short-term debt

Singer plans to issue a commercial paper (CP) of up to Rs 1 billion to refinance its short-term debt, according to Fitch Rating. The rating agency said it has given a National Short-Term rating of 'F1 (lka)' to the issue and also assigned Singer's senior unsecured notes of up to Rs 500 million a National Long-term rating of 'A (lka)' with 'Stable Outlook'.

"The ratings reflect Singer's market position as one of Sri Lanka's largest consumer durables retailers, as well as its established franchise and extensive distribution network," it said adding that Singer has had access to funding from banks, and has ben regularly accessing local capital markets to raise debt.
At end-2011, Singer had cash and cash equivalents of Rs 365 million and undrawn facilities of Rs 2.1 billion, against debt maturities of Rs 4.3 billion due within one year. Singer's total debt amounted to Rs 5.1 billion at end-2011, Fitch said.