Iofina restructures debt to continue upgrades and expansion

Iofina on Tuesday secured an extension to its loan notes and term loan facility provided by Stena Investment Sarl, with the repayment date for the company's convertible loan notes and Stena loan extended to 1 July 2020.

The iodine extraction technology specialist, which currently has debt of $22.4m under notes and $3.3m under the Stena loan, said the interest rate on the loan notes and Stena loan has been adjusted to 7.5%, effective from the start of January, but rates on the latter will increase to 12% on 1 June.

A statement from the AIM traded company said it is now better positioned to build upon last year's improved performance with increased profitability for 2019 and beyond.

Tom Becker, president and chief executive of Iofina, said: ''Extending the terms of the notes and facility to 1 July 2020 will allow us to continue upgrading and expanding our plants, which in turn will further boost the level of Iodine production. At the same time the removal of the debt convertibility is a huge positive for our shareholders. With iodine prices continuing to rise we are well positioned to continue the momentum built over the last few years."

Iofina's shares were down 3.49% at 17.11p at 1637 GMT.