Copa boosts liquidity with $350 million bond issue
Copa Holdings, the parent company of Copa Airlines and Wingo, obtained financing of more than $645 million this month to face the effects of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic
On Tuesday, April 28 the company that has a fleet of 102 aircraft parked at Tocumen International Airport, obtained $350 million from a bond issue at an annual rate of 4.5% with maturity in 2025.
Interest will be paid semi-annually on April 15 and October 15 of each year, beginning in October 2020.
“The notes will mature on April 15, 2025, unless they are repurchased, exchanged or converted before October 15, 2024,” the airline group said.
Pedro Heilbron, executive president of Copa Airlines said: “It reflects the severity with which this situation has impacted us, since we have not received income since mid-March while maintaining high fixed costs.”
Copa Holdings estimates that if it continues without income for the rest of the year, as has happened since March 22 it will have to allocate or ‘burn’, $82 million a month in fixed expenses.
In addition to the $350 million dollars placed Tuesday, the company obtained in April $145 million in loans and another $150 million in unsecured credit lines.
According to preliminary data for the first quarter of the year, Copa Holdings’ revenues decreased 11.4% to $595.5 million, which left an operating profit of $98.7 million.
At the start of the month, the company projected that over the next two years, income will fall 70%, about $2 billion dollars.
The airline is in negotiation with the five unions that represent 60% of its workers, that have rejected the voluntary retirement plan proposed by the company and the suspension of contracts from May.
Copa Airlines announced last week that if there are no new travel restrictions in the region, it will resume operations on June 1.
Given the low demand in the coming months, it will only be operating only 12% of its fleet. Before the pandemic, the airline performed 350 operations a day.