Saga refinances existing bank facilities

Saga has refinanced existing bank facilities with the launch of a debut £250m seven-year senior unsecured bond, a £200m five-year term loan facility and a £100m five-year revolving credit facility.

The company, which specialises in products and services for the over-50s, said that with its existing facilities expiring in April 2019 and given the positive backdrop in the debt market, this is a good time to refinance.

Saga said the refinancing will strengthen its balance sheet by extending the maturity profile and increasing diversity of the sources of its borrowings. The overall weighted average interest costs of the new arrangement is in line with the existing facilities but the group expects to incur around £4m of one-off non-cash costs associated with the unamortised facility fees of the existing facilities.

Chief financial officer Jonathan Hill said: "We are pleased to have secured this refinancing which will strengthen the group's balance sheet and provide us with additional flexibility, whilst further diversifying our debt structure. We thank our banks for their continued support."

The £250m senior unsecured bonds due 2024 are expected to be issued on 12 May and will bear interest at a rate of 3.375%, with interest paid six monthly in arrears.

At 0950 BST, the shares were up 0.1% to 212.60p.