GMR’s Delhi International Airport looking to refinance Rs 2,500 crore debt

GMR’s Delhi International Airport looking to refinance Rs 2500 crore debt

GMR Airports-owned Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) is in talks with lenders to raise around Rs 2,500 crore to refinance part of its debt, which is due in October 2025, sources told Moneycontrol.

The proposed fundraise will be done through the issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) with a maturity of 10 years, they said. The entire amount will be used to refinance NCDs that are maturing in October next year.

DIAL had previously raised around Rs 750 crore to partly refinance these NCDs and is now looking to refinance the entire outstanding NCDs.

In March, the airport operator raised Rs 800 crore debt, with a maturity of 10 years, to fund capex overrun. With the completion of the capex, the airport now has a capacity to handle 100 million passengers per annum.

The refinancing will help DIAL reduce its interest cost and help spread out the maturities of its debt obligations, leading to improved liquidity for the company, sources said.

For FY24, the interest payments for DIAL stood at Rs 1,127 crore, against an EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) of Rs 1,559.3 crore, according to company filings. DIAL reported a standalone loss of Rs 180.6 crore in FY24.

Net debt at DIAL stood at approximately Rs 12,500 crore, as of March 31, 2024, company filing show.

An email sent to the GMR group did not elicit a response till the time of publishing this report.

For the quarter ending March 31, 2024, DIAL saw passenger traffic of 19.2 million, up 8.2 percent YoY.  For the full financial year FY24, passenger traffic grew 12.8 percent to 73.7 million passengers.

The company reported a growth of 14.4 percent in its revenue to around Rs 1,320 crore in Q4FY24, while EBITDA grew by 20.2 percent, to around Rs 370 crore.

Also Read: Jefferies reiterates bullishness on GMR Airports on rising passenger traffic, sees 10% upside

Apart from the proposed refinancing at DIAL, GMR, in the last one year, has undertaken various refinancing measures across its business.

The airports holding company, GMR Airports Limited, raised about Rs 2,250 crore as senior unsecured bonds. With this round, all the debt at GMR Airports level was refinanced by the group. The gross debt at GMR Airports stood at around Rs 4,970 crore, as of March 31, 2024.

GMR’s Hyderabad airport raised about Rs 540 crore through the issuance of 10-year NCDs in March and used the proceeds to refinance its existing debt.

Also Read: GMR Airports arm raises Rs 3,125 crore in debt financing for Bhogapuram International Airport