Guthrie confirms bond postponed

Guthrie confirms bond postponed

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian plantations group Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd. confirmed Friday its earlier plan to tap the global capital market via a US$245 million Islamic bond, or Sukuk, program has been postponed indefinitely, a company spokesperson said.

The $245 million Sukuk, part of a $395 million program launched late-2001, was initially planned for mid-2003, the spokesperson told Dow Jones Newswires on condition of anonymity.

The remaining $150 million of the program had been issued in December 2001.

She cited adverse global economic conditions for the postponement of the $245 million issue.

The bond issue is aimed at replacing pricey rupiah-denominated borrowings used initially to finance Guthrie's 1.5 billion ringgit purchase in 2000 of massive tracts of oil palm land in Indonesia.

Due to the postponement of the $245 million Sukuk issue, Guthrie is now using ringgit-denominated Islamic borrowings to finance the Indonesian estates, which are collectively known as Minamas Plantation Group, the spokesperson added. -- Dow Jones