Saudi Jabal Omar says in talks with lenders after missing 173 mln payment

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Jabal Omar Development Co is in talks with creditors after failing to make the first repayment worth 650 million riyals ($173.29 million) on a 3 billion riyal state loan on Jan. 1 the property firm said on Sunday.

In a bourse filing the company said its sustainability depended on finding funds to repay short-term debts. The company has long-term debt of more than 8 billion riyals.

The developer whose projects are mainly located in Mecca’s Jabal Omar district near the Holy Mosque said it plans to use a 900 million riyal credit facility from a local bank to cover the repayment. The facility has 751 million riyals remaining.

It said the terms of the government loan allow land put up by Jabal Omar as collateral to be sold by the lender.

Jabal Omar’s shares which slumped to a 21-month low in mid-January were up 0.2 percent as of 0916 GMT underperforming Saudi’s main stock index which rose 3.5 percent.

REUTERS