SEGRO plc
AMENDMENT TO COVENANT LEVELS SUCCESSFULLY ACHIEVED
SEGRO plc ("SEGRO") announces that it has signed agreements with syndicate
banks and bilateral lenders that provide £1.7 billion of debt (drawn and
undrawn) to permanently increase the maximum gearing covenant (net debt to net
worth) in these facilities, with immediate effect, from 125% to 160%. Following
this agreement, SEGRO's lowest gearing covenant across all of its debt and
undrawn credit facilities is 160%. Interest cover covenants, which require net
rental income to cover net interest charges by 1.25 times, remain the same.
The Group continues to operate within all of its debt covenants even without
the amendments, but in the current uncertain economic environment and difficult
property market conditions, SEGRO believes that the amendments provide valuable
additional headroom to the Company.
Gearing covenants on SEGRO's £1.3 billion of corporate bonds which mature
between 2010 and 2035 remain at 175%.
As part of the agreements, SEGRO will pay a one-off fee of £8.6m and the
weighted average margin over LIBOR and EURIBOR on these credit facilities at
the date of signing will increase by approximately 110 basis points over the
previous margin levels. The immediate impact of such increased margins would be
to increase the weighted average cost of the Group's debt from approximately
5.20% to 5.75% per annum. However, SEGRO believes the present low interest rate
environment provides an opportunity to mitigate most, if not all, of this
increased cost.
SEGRO announced on 18 February that it is assessing its financing options. This
covenant renegotiation is an important element of the Group's overall financing
strategy.
For further information please contact:
SEGRO +44 20 7491 0177 David Sleath
Maitland +44 20 7379 5151 Colin Browne
Liz Morley
About SEGRO
SEGRO is the leading provider of Flexible Business Space in Europe.
Headquartered in the UK, SEGRO is listed on the London Stock Exchange and on
Euronext in Paris. The Company is a UK Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) with
operations in ten countries, serving a diversified base of 1,700 customers
operating in a wide range of sectors, representing both small and large
businesses, from start-ups to global corporations. With property assets of £5.1
billion as at 30 June 2008 and around 5.0 million sq m of business space, SEGRO
has an annual rent roll of approximately £290 million (Note: these metrics
include trading properties, development assets and the Group's share of joint
ventures). www.SEGRO.com
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