Sichuan Coal Industry Group, one of the largest state-owned coal firms in west China, said yesterday that it has fully paid a 1 billion yuan ($150 million) bond that it issued in 2015 after raising funds during the past one and a half months.
The group paid 1.1 billion yuan including the principal and interest. It also paid liquidated damages of 9.3 million yuan because on June 15 it failed to pay back the bond which had an annual interest rate of 5.72 percent, blaming the downturn in the coal industry.
The Sichuan government intervened and teamed up with local banks and branches of national banks to raise funds for the group.
The group has another eight bonds totaling 4.8 billion yuan to be paid in coming years.
The group has suffered net losses since 2012 on the poor quality of the coal it produces and weak operation. Since 2013, the overproduction of coal in China has worsened its position, which saw the group post a 280 million yuan net loss for the first quarter of 2016, plunging 225 percent year on year.
