KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 12): Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd, which recently missed the coupon payment for one of its US$300 million sukuk, said it has no intention to default and is committed to fulfil the payment before the grace period ends.

In a statement, Serba Dinamik said that the coupon payment due was approximately US$7 million (RM29.15 million). The coupon payment for the 3-year, US dollar-denominated sukuk was due on Nov 9.

However, Serba Dinamik did not elaborate on the reason it missed the coupon payment. 

“Serba Dinamik has engaged and sought advice from our legal counsel, as well as written to sukuk agents to notify the sukuk holders on the correct amount due.

“We wish to highlight that, under the terms of agreement, Serba Dinamik has a 30-day period from the non-payment due date to cure and pay the overdue coupon obligations before triggering any dissolution event (event of default),” the oil and gas services group said.

“The group assures that Serba Dinamik is committed to fulfil the said payment, subject to receipt from our customers. We are also proactively engaging all stakeholders to provide timely updates and clarifications as and when required.

“Serba Dinamik extends its guarantee that it has no intention to default on the coupon payment and is taking all necessary steps to remedy the matter within the stipulated timeline,” it added.

The tranche of bonds will mature in six months on May 9, 2022.

Notably, the May 2022 sukuk contains cross-default provisions with another tranche of US$200 million sukuk, which matures on March 12, 2025. Its other Islamic bond paper has an annual profit rate of 6.997%, which is also paid biannually.

On Nov 12, Fitch Ratings downgraded energy-service provider Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd's long-term issuer default rating to "C" from “CCC-“.

Fitch added that Serba Dinamik said it planned to pay the coupon within the grace period with cash collected from customers.

On Nov 10, Serba Dinamik reportedly forfeited its RM2.42 million deposit for a proposed purchase of an eight-storey office building in Putrajaya from AwanBiru Technology Bhd (Awantec) for RM24.2 million.

On Aug 21, S&P Global Ratings downgraded Serba Dinamik’s foreign currency long-term credit rating to "CCC" from "B-" to reflect the company’s debt maturities of RM1.7 billion from then until May 2022.

Shares of Serba Dinamik had been suspended from Oct 22, amid an ongoing dispute with Bursa Malaysia regarding the release of an update for the ongoing special independent review over its financials.

Bursa Malaysia had directed the review in June this year, after Serba Dinamik’s then-external auditor KPMG flagged audit matters involving transactions and counterparties amounting to over RM3 billion.

The counter last traded at 35 sen on Oct 22, valuing the group at RM1.3 billion.