CHINA Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corp, which sought protection from creditors in 2004 after a trading scandal, said it has fully repaid US$73.3 million in outstanding debt four years earlier than scheduled.

China Aviation Oil instructed its bankers to pay creditors under a debt repayment program that was to be completed in 2011, the company said in a statement to the Singapore Exchange yesterday, according to Bloomberg News.

The company said it repaid the debt, using part of the proceeds from the sale of a five-percent stake in Spain's Compania Logistica de Hidrocarburos SA, an operator of fuel pipelines and storage tanks. China Aviation Oil paid 60.6 million euros (US$81.9 million) for the stake in 2002 and sold it to Caixanova, a regional savings bank, in January.

The jet fuel trader sought court protection from its creditors in November 2004 after revealing a US$550 million trading loss. The company's shares resumed trading in Singapore on March 29, 2006 after a court-approved reorganization under which creditors and new investors including BP Plc and Temasek Holdings Pte approved a debt repayment plan.

Early repayment of the debt would result in "substantial interest savings" and improve the company's standing with existing lenders, while being able to boost earnings in future, the company said.

Source:佚名