From February this year the Company’s management decided to restructure its debt and began negotiations with its lenders and bondholders. The repayment of the $600 million bond was resolved last July with an agreement reached with bondholders, and the Company has now restructured its loans from BNP and ICBC and reached a favourable agreement.

The Company reduced its total overdue loans and payments from around $830 million to $425 million and deferred the maturity by a total of six years, to 2022. The interest rate was also agreed at 5–8 per cent, linked to coal market prices. As a result, Energy Resources’ overall debt and capital structure has changed for the better and the conditions are in place for the Company to operate stably. The financial position of companies can be compared using the debt ratio — total debt against total assets. On that measure, Energy Resources’ debt ratio is 31%, a healthy level and below that of world-class mining companies.