Dana Gas says will meet upcoming debt obligations

Dana Gas says will meet upcoming debt obligations

Dana hires international financial advisor for sukuk; Says in 'constructive' talks with Egypt govt on late payments; Shares fall to fresh all-time lows before recovering

January 17, 2012 2:55 by Reuters

Dana Gas Co will continue to meet its debt obligations, it said on Tuesday, amid concerns the Abu Dhabi-listed oil and gas firm may struggle to meet the outstanding $920 million on its Islamic bond maturing in October.

Dana’s shares have slumped on investor fears of a default, dropping to fresh lows on Tuesday. Its shares have fallen 54 percent in the last 12 months while the bond is currently trading at around 65 cents to the dollar.

“Dana Gas over the last four years has timely and consistently paid on or before the due date the sukuk profit amount and will continue to do so pursuant with its obligations,” the company said in a statement.

Dana, which has operations in Egypt and Kurdistan, said it has hired an international financial advisor to seek options to address the upcoming debt maturity. It gave no further details.

The company also continues to have “constructive discussions” with the Egyptian government over delayed payments from government-owned entities in the North African country, the statement said.

Dana collected $177 million in cash attributable to its share of receivables from Egypt and Kurdistan in 2011, it said.

Dana, which is 20-percent owned by Crescent Petroleum, has a three-percent stake in Hungarian oil refiner MOL.

Its Abu Dhabi listed shares, recouped losses to trade up 2 percent after falling as much 8.2 percent in early trade. (Reporting by Dinesh Nair; Editing by Amran Abocar)