ABS-CBN to prepay $85M loan

ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. on Thursday announced it will be prepaying $85 million worth of maturing loans in order to take advantage of the prevailing low interest rate scenario. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, ABS-CBN vice president and chief financial officer Miguel Jose T. Navarrete said the broadcasting firm has signed agreements with ABN Amro Bank, N.V., BPI Capital Corporation, and ING Bank N.V., which would enable it to refinance its debts. Navarette said the loan comes in three tranches. Tranche A amounted to $39 million, Tranche B to $1.85 billion while Trance C totaled P403 million. The loans were supposed to mature in 2012, with an average interest cost of 9 percent. In a separate disclosure, the broadcast company said its board of directors approved a cash dividend of P0.45 per share to all stockholders on record as of April 20. The cash dividend will be paid on May 15, 2007. GMANews.tv is the official Web site of the GMA News and Public Affairs department of GMA Network Inc., a competitor of ABS-CBN.-GMANews.TV