SAA to meet banks on Tuesday to negotiate refinancing
The banks have, in principle, agreed to extend loan terms, South African Airways CEO Vuyani Jarana says
South African Airways (SAA) will meet a group of domestic lenders on Tuesday to negotiate the refinancing of about R6bn in outstanding loans, according to its new CEO. The banks have, in principle, agreed to extend the loan terms, Vuyani Jarana, who took the helm at the loss-making airline on November 1, said during an interview on Monday. The group is led by Nedbank and includes FirstRand, Standard Bank, Barclays Africa and Investec. "We are meeting the banks to discuss the roll-over of the loans that have expired and to extend the expiry dates," Jarana said. "That will give us the going-concern status that will enable us to renegotiate longer-term contracts." The government has transferred more than R5bn rand to the airline in 2017 to avoid it defaulting on debt owed to Citigroup and Standard Chartered after the lenders refused to extend the terms of the loans. SAA is one of several cash-strapped state-owned companies that the government has extended bailouts to, and it has a R19....
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