Indebted Transnet rolls over $381 million loans for four months

Transnet SOC Ltd. rolled over 7 billion rand ($381 million) of debt due this week until March, giving the South African state-owned port and rail company relief for four months.

The bonds, which were due Nov. 6, were dealt with “using funding and existing facilities,” Transnet said in an emailed response to questions. The company sold zero-coupon notes maturing in February and March next year, shortly after next year’s budget presentation.

The Public Investment Corp., which manages the bulk of government employees pension funds and had 4.4 billion rand of Transnet’s bonds due for repayment on Nov. 6, rolled over its exposure into a new short-term commercial paper maturing in March, News24 reported on Wednesday. It also received the balance of more than 250 million rand, the news website said.

The PIC said it would respond later to a request by Bloomberg for comment.

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana made no provision for Transnet in his medium-term budget policy statement last week, despite a last minute bid for a bailout by the embattled company. 

“We are realistic that at some point we need to find a solution for Transnet,” Godongwana said. “Moving forward, our view is that we need a Transnet that agrees to a particular program and we going to insist on that.”