5 Jun 2018 07:00
fastjet Plc
("fastjet" or the "Company" or the "Group")
(AIM: FJET)
Notice of final results and loan arrangements
5 June 2018
fastjet, the low-cost African airline will be announcing its audited 2017 final results by Friday 8 June 2018.
As previously announced, the Company expects underlying trading for FY 2017 to be broadly in line with expectations.
Following on from previous updates regarding its cash position, the Company has entered into unsecured loan agreements with third parties, Annunaki Investments (Private) Limited ("Annunaki") and SSCG Africa Holdings ("SSCG"), in order to make available a portion of the Group's restricted cash held within Zimbabwe. The loans are on commercial terms, for a period of six months and allow fastjet to lend US$5m cash from fastjet Zimbabwe to Annunaki in return for a US$2m loan to fastjet from SSCG for general working capital purposes across the Group. The intention is that each of the loans are repaid at the end of the six months unless the term is extended by mutual agreement by all of the parties.
The Company is entering into the quieter period of trading across the calendar year and on forecast projections, headroom over available cash resources remains minimal, particularly in the early part of the next 12 months. In addition to the above, the Directors are continuing to explore additional sources of finance to mitigate these risks during this period. The cash balance for the Group as at 24 May, in advance of entering into these loan agreements, was $7.5m ($5.4m of which is restricted cash in Zimbabwe).
For more information, contact:
fastjet Plc | Tel: +27 (0) 10 070 5151 |
Nico Bezuidenhout, Chief Executive Officer Michael Muller, Chief Financial Officer | |
UK media - Citigate Dewe Rogerson | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7638 9571 |
Angharad Couch Eleni Menikou | |
Toby Moore Nick Hayns | |
South African media - Hein Kaiser | Tel: +27 (0) 82 520 0555 |
For investor enquiries please contact: | |
Liberum Capital Limited - Nominated Adviser and Broker | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3100 2222 |
Clayton Bush | |
Jill Li Neil Elliot |
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NOTES TO EDITORS
About Fastjet Plc
fastjet is a multi-award winning low-cost African airline for everyone. It began flight operations in Tanzania in November 2012, flying passengers from Dar es Salaam to just two domestic destinations - Kilimanjaro and Mwanza. Today, fastjet's route network includes Tanzanian domestic routes from its Dar es Salaam base to Kilimanjaro, Mbeya, and Mwanza, and international routes from Tanzania to Lusaka in Zambia and Harare in Zimbabwe. fastjet also began flight operations from its Zimbabwe base in October 2015, and now flies domestically from Harare to Victoria Falls, Harare to Dar es Salaam and internationally from both Harare and Victoria Falls to Johannesburg in South Africa. fastjet launched flights in Mozambique in November 2017 through a brand license agreement with Solenta Aviation Mozambique and offers a 4-city network of services within the country. The airline has flown over 2.5 million passengers with an impressive aggregate 94% on-time performance, establishing itself as a punctual, reliable, and affordable low-cost carrier.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of the Market Abuse Regulation.
fastjet Plc is quoted on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market ("AIM").
For more information see www.fastjet.com.