Member Article

Hessle-based Fenner plc secures extended £100 million refinancing package

Hessle-based manufacturing group Fenner PLC has refinanced its core bank facilities with a banking syndicate made up of Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, HSBC, Barclays and Santander.

The East Yorkshire-headquartered group has increased the size of its revolving credit facility from £80 million to £100 million, and extended its maturity to 2019. It can also draw on a new uncommitted £50 million accordion facility.

The new banking 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, Fenner manufactures reinforced polymer technology for engineering purposes. The group, which employs more than 5,000 staff across some 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 & gas and medical together with construction, transportation, automation and general industrial.

Richard Perry, group finance director of Fenner PLC, 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 28th February, the group posted revenues of £359.8 million and recorded underlying pre-tax profits of £29.6 million.

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.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .