Globe Secures PhP7B Loan Facility to Fund Capex, Prepay Debts

Globe Telecom (PSE: GLO) has signed a seven-year, PhP7 billion term loan facility with BDO Unibank Inc. (PSE: BDO) to fund part of its capital expenditure (capex) requirements for 2011 and prepay existing debts.

“We intend to use the BDO facility to fund our capital expenditure requirements this year and prepay up to PhP3 billion in loans that originally mature in 2012. The current low interest rate environment allows us to replace these loans with cheaper debt, generating savings for the company,” said Albert De Larrazabal, Globe Telecom’s Chief Financial Officer, in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

The BDO loan is the first loan facility signed by Globe Telecom this year. As of end-September 2010, Globe’s debt-to-equity ratio was at 1.16.