Fenner in £100m refinancing deal
MANUFACTURING group Fenner has refinanced its core bank facilities with a syndicate made up of Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, HSBC, Barclays and Santander to help it continue to invest in its operations.
The East Yorkshire-headquartered group has increased the size of its revolving credit facility from £80m to £100m, and extended its maturity to 2019. It can also draw on a new uncommitted £50m accordion facility if required.
The new agreement reduces Fenner’s ongoing borrowing costs and provides increased headroom for continued investment particularly in the group’s Advanced Engineered Products division.
Established in 1861, the conveyor belt and reinforced polymer manufacturer which employs more than 5,000 staff across 20 countries, operates through two divisions.
Engineered Conveyor Solutions is a recognised leader in the global conveying market, serving the conveying needs of mining, power generation and bulk handling markets.
Advanced Engineered Products uses advanced polymeric materials and technical expertise to provide high value-added solutions to customers’ most challenging engineering problems. Customers are spread across a variety of end-user segments, including oil and gas and medical together with construction, transportation, automation and general industrial.
Richard Perry, group finance director of Fenner, said: “Due to favourable credit conditions at the current time, the group decided to refinance core banking facilities that were due to expire in 2017. The new agreement strengthens our medium term financial position and provides additional headroom to pursue organic growth and strategic acquisitions.”
For the half year ending February 28, the group posted revenues of £359.8m and recorded underlying pre-tax profits of £29.6m.
Richard Townsend, relationship director for Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking in Hull, said: “The management team continue to deliver a resilient performance and have a clear vision to increase market share and add new product areas to the mix. The uplift in funding ensures the group has the funding available to continue investing in its operations. Lloyds Bank is committed to supporting manufacturing businesses such as Fenner, which have a crucial role to play in driving economic recovery.”
Meanwhile, Fenner announced this morning that group finance director Richard Perry will retire in January and will be replaced by John Pratt.
Mr Pratt joined Fenner in 1991 and has held a number of senior positions, including group financial controller from 1996 to 2002. He is currently a member of the group executive committee and executive director of the group’s Engineered Conveyor Solutions division with responsibility for all ECS activities in the United Kingdom and Asia.
Chairman Mark Abrahams said: “The board acknowledges with considerable gratitude the enormous contribution made by Richard Perry since he became finance director of Fenner in 1994. Richard has been an outstanding finance director and helped to lead the company through a period of exceptional development and growth.
“John Pratt brings to the role very strong business skills and experience, considerable knowledge of the group’s operations and markets across the world and continuity in the leadership of the group’s finance function. These will be of great benefit to the group as it embarks on its next phase of development.”
