KUALA LUMPUR (March 18): Barakah Offshore Petroleum Bhd, which has been granted a 90-day extension on its restraining order from the High Court, said today that the amount of debts that it needs to restructure is not known yet.

“The board of directors of Barakah wishes to clarify that the company is still in the midst of formulating a debt restructuring scheme to settle the group’s debt.

“At this juncture, the actual amount of debt to be restructured has yet to be determined,” Barakah said in a filing today after the market closed.

The oil & gas firm pointed out that its total borrowings (inclusive of its subsidiaries) were at RM335.6 million as at end-2018. Based on its balance sheet as at Dec 31, 2018, the company’s long-term liabilities was at RM172.02 million and trade payables were at RM139.69 million.

Barakah’s filing was in response to an article in The Edge Weekly for the week of March 18-24, 2019.

The article reported that Barakah alongside its two main subsidiaries — PBJV Group Sdn Bhd and Kota Laksamana 101 Ltd — is seeking to restructure RM726.53 million in debt, quoting sources.

A chunk of Barakah’s liabilities are off-balance sheet transactions, hence it is not shown in its books. It is also worth noting that the company has changed its financial year end from December 30 to June 30.

The filing to Bursa highlighted that Barakah and its wholly-owned subsidiary PBJV Group Sdn Bhd have obtained a restraining order from the High Court that has been extended for another 90 days from Jan 14, 2019. However, contingent creditors are excluded from the restraining order.

It did not reveal the details of its contingent liabilities.   

The Edge Weekly reported that financial institutions with exposure to Barakah are Export-Import Bank of Malaysia, SME Bank and several major local commercial banks.

Barakah said the filing that “no definite or conclusive terms have been agreed upon with any of the lenders and creditors of Barakah”.

“An appropriate announcement will be made by the board in the event that the finalised debt restructuring scheme is agreed upon,” Barakah said in the announcement.

“The Board is cognisant of the need for proper dissemination of information to the public and will release an announcement to Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd on any material information on a timely basis as required by the Main Market Listing Requirements of Bursa Malaysia,” it added.

Shares of Barakah recently staged a strong rebound from the low of 4.5 sen in late December to a high of 14.5 sen on Feb 14. Year-to-date, the stock has gained nearly 92%. It closed at 11.5 sen, giving it a market capitalisation of RM96.12 million.

To read related story, please click https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/barakah-seeks-restructure-rm726-mil-debt