Turkey’s TAV in talks to refinance Izmir Airport loan

Turkey’s TAV Airports (TAVHL.IS) is in talks with banks to refinance the debt of its Izmir Airport, which is worth around 200 million euros ($211 million), sources told Reuters.

It was not yet clear whether the negotiations for refinancing, carried out with domestic and foreign banks, would result in an agreement, the three sources said.

TAV Airports declined to comment on the issue.

“TAV is a well-run company so it is only natural to do such negotiations. The talks are not due to financial difficulties,” one of the sources close to the matter told Reuters, requesting anonymity.

According to published financial statements, Izmir Airport has net debt of 211.9 million euros as of March 2022.

Last year, TAV had restructed the loan it had taken from European banks for its airport in Tunisia.

Last year, a consortium of TAV Airports and Germany’s Fraport (FRAG.DE) made the best bid of 7.25 billion euros ($8.2 billion) in a tender for the expansion of Antalya Airport’s capacity and its operating rights for 25 years.

Last month, TAV announced it made a 1.8 billion-euro rental down payment for Antalya Airport and had also started related investments.

TAV Airports booked a loss of 335.7 million lira ($23 million) in the first quarter, compared to a profit of 552.9 million lira in the same period last year.