KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 11): Loss-making Sarawak Cable Bhd (SCable) says it has received approval from the Corporate Debt Restructuring Committee (CDRC) to help the company and certain of its subsidiaries resolve debt issues with their respective lenders.

This follows a report by The Edge weekly on Sept 9 that SCable had sought assistance from CDRC, which comes under the purview of Bank Negara Malaysia, to better manage its borrowings.

SCable said notwithstanding this, the operations of the company and its subsidiaries will remain as usual.

In a bourse filing today, SCable said it had received a letter on Aug 7 from CDRC, approving the company's application for assistance to mediate with its creditors.

"This is part of the company's proactive effort in managing its debt exposure to safeguard (the company and certain of its subsidiaries), whose core businesses are still viable.

"Further announcements will be made in due course, as and when appropriate," it added.

Earlier, The Edge weekly had quoted SCable managing director Datuk Ahmad Redza Abdullah as saying that the company is currently working on a restructuring proposal with its advisers, but there will be no haircut for its borrowings.

It was also reported that SCable has appointed EY to help with the restructuring.

According to its annual report, SCable's principle bankers are AmBank (M) Bhd, Bank of China (M) Bhd, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd, CIMB Bank Bhd, Export-Import Bank of Malaysia Bhd and Hong Leong Bank Bhd.

As at end-June, cash and bank balances stood at RM27.05 million, while its short and long-term debt commitments totalled RM505.64 million and RM101.22 million, respectively.
 
Shares of Sarawak Cable closed up one sen or 3.70% at 28 sen today, with 198,500 shares done, bringing a market capitalisation of RM88.77 million.