Adelaide, June 30, 2009 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Beach Petroleum Limited (ASX:BPT)(PINK:BEPTF) today announced that the Beach group had completed the rapid repayment of more than A$650 million in borrowings.
The debt repayment milestone will this week see Beach commence the new 2009-2010 financial year as one of the few Australian top-10 oil and gas companies to be debt free.
The elimination of Beach's total debt - achieved in just under three years - follows the Beach group's 2006 borrowings for the successful acquisition of Delhi Petroleum's large suite of producing Cooper Basin oil and gas assets and reserves.
"Commencing 2009-2010 with no debt invigorates our growth strategy," Beach's Managing Director, Mr Reg Nelson, said today.
"It significantly strengthens our balance sheet, provides unfettered financial clout for further corporate and project acquisitions, and underpins our production and reserves momentum as cash flow and revenue are not being diluted," Mr Nelson said.
"Paired with a current cash position of over A$125 million in the bank, which is in line with Beach's strategy of maintaining a conservative balance sheet that can support future exploration and acquisitions, Beach enters July 1 with all four financial aces in its hand.
"This is a milestone achievement for Beach and is a most pleasing outcome for the entire Beach team."
The debt repayment was achieved through a successful capital raising of A$350 million, ongoing debt repayments made from Beach's strong operating cash flows, further reducing the debt from A$300 million to A$181million and the final payment using part of the A$260 million cash received in May from Arrow Energy Limited.
Contact
Reg Nelson
Beach Petroleum
Tel: +61-8-8338-2833
Hector Gordon
Beach Petroleum
Tel: +61-8-8338-2833
| ||
|
