Singapore Airlines (SIA) announced that the private placing on new 10-year bonds has successfully raised 500 million S$ (S$1=RM3.04).

"This reflects the strong confidence that investors have in the ability of Singapore Airlines to navigate the near-term challenges, and emerge as a leader in the airline industry," said chief executive officer Goh Choon Phong in a statement issued here.

This issuance further enhances the liquidity position of the business and the revenue is used, including for the refinancing of existing loans, for general purposes.

The offer was introduced at the size of 300 million S$ in response to an initial interest rate and increased to five hundred million S$ when a small group of private investors showed strong interest.

A competitive coupon of 3.5% per annum is given to the 10-year bonds, through which DBS Bank and United Overseas Bank served as common management boards.

SIA said positive discussions on aircraft purchases and leaseback transactions have also taken place, as demonstrated in the half-year financial results, and will continue to explore other ways to further improve its liquidity, should the need.

The airline has raised approximately $12,7 billion in additional liquidity since the beginning of the 2020/2021 financial year, including its present problem.

This includes SIA's successful rights for S$8.8 billion, secured funding for S$2 billion, the recently released convertible bond for S$850 million and new committing credit lines for over S$500 million, and an unstable loan for short-term.

Including new lines, SIA has announced that more than 2.1 billion dollars of engaged credit lines will be still open.

It also retains the option of raising additional compulsory convertible bonds to S$6.2 billion, if necessary, for the period until July 2021.