Garuda Shareholders Give All-Clear for $500m Global Sukuk Sale, Appoint New Director

An extraordinary general meeting of shareholders of Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia approved the company’s management plan to sell up to $500 million in global sukuk, or Islamic-compliant bonds.

A prospectus published in Investor Daily on Monday showed that the meeting, which took place on Friday, approved the airline’s plan to sell a maximum $500 million in global sukuk to help finance general corporate programs.

No other details were available about the bond sale, which represents Garuda’s first global sukuk.

The airline said in a statement in February that it had signed $400 million om bridge financing with two Middle Eastern banks  — the National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Dubai Islamic Bank — while awaiting “momentum” to issue the sukuk.

Garuda is also seeking to restructure its long-term debt, which stood at $965 million as of the end of last year, partly by using proceeds from a sukuk sale.

Last Friday’s meeting also approved the appointment of Nicodemus Panarung Lampe as the company’s new director of services.

M. Arif Wibowo, the Garuda president director, said the new position was introduced as the airline seeks to maintain service quality, as reported by Antara.

The airline has since December last year been designated a five-star carrier by Skytrax, which reviews and ranks airlines and airports, joining the likes of better-known carriers such as Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and All Nippon Airways.