BOC Aviation has signed a US$1.375bn club term loan transaction with 16 banks globally. The five-year unsecured term loan transaction, which is the largest the company has signed since its inception in 1993, comprises three facilities provided by banks from Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East to BOC Aviation, BOC Aviation (USA) and BOC Aviation (Ireland).
Citigroup Global Markets Singapore acted as the global coordinator and documentation agent with HSBC, Singapore Branch, acting as facility agent for all three facilities. The proceeds will be used for general working capital purposes and refinancing existing debts.
“We are very pleased to conclude our largest club term loan transaction at such competitive pricing levels. This will enable us to remain agile in the market, and to continue investing in accretive growth opportunities. We continue to see strong support from global banks and are pleased to add three new lenders to our banking group,” said Steven Townend, deputy managing director and chief financial officer of BOC Aviation.
BOC Aviation has reported a strong first half of the year, with a total revenue of US$1.061bn for the six months to the end of June 30, 2023 and a net profit of US$262 million, compared with net loss after tax of US$313 million, or core net profit after tax of US$206 million, in the first half of 2022. The lessor also just paid an interim dividend of US$0.1131 per share compared with US$0.0889 per share paid in the first half of last year. BOC Aviation also booked a record first half operating cash flow net of interest of US$721 million, and maintains strong liquidity with US$547 million in cash and short-term deposits in addition to US$5.2 billion in undrawn committed credit facilities at the end of June.
In the first half of this year, BOC Aviation has received strong funding support from the debt capital market, issuing US$1 billion of five- and ten-year notes, with both issuances were over-subscribed by nine times and five times, respectively. The spreads achieved for both issuances were the tightest amongst global lessors since January 2022. Aside from this new term loan, BOC Aviation has been very active in the bank market, raising US$660 million in new funding during the first half of the year.