It certainly was re-assuring. Here's what the announcement said,...

It certainly was re-assuring. Here's what the announcement said, in part:
...
"Slater and Gordon Limited (ASX:SGH) yesterday reached agreement with its Lenders to make further amendments to its bank finance facilities. As previously disclosed the maturity date for the Group’s facilities is May 2018, and there are a number of financial covenants and operational milestones that apply through the term of the facilities. The maturity of the Group’s facilities remains unchanged. "

So, what do we know from this?:
1. Maturity date was not changed (per the announcement).
2. Facility limits remained unchanged (per H17 results and Note 1.2).
3. No new facilities in place or extensions of same (per H17 results and Note 1.2).
4. Further amendments made (per the announcement).

So, if everything else remained unchanged, what then was changed as a result of the amendments? Could it have been the covenants including when they might be looked at /triggered? Possibly, especially considering the following from H17, note 1.2:
....
The Group will not have sufficient free cash flow to pay interest and repay the facilities in May 2018, or earlier, and there is some risk that it may not meet minimum cash balances specified in the SFA. Accordingly, the Group requires the ongoing support of its lenders to continue as a going concern.

So, we now know that there is at least one SFA covenant - minimum required cash balances and that this requirement was either amended on 28/12/16 or if not, then certain other covenants were amended.

It was a reassuring statement but not in the way of supporting the SP which @28/12/16 was 23.5.

If you are going to put the AFR into that fanciful position, then much the same as this can also be said of Grech, Skippen, the Board and the Company, repeatedly. The AFR's story is sending a guided message which the management and the board are not hearing. Perhaps it's time for plans K, L and M to be rolled out?
K - (K)apital.
L - (L)iabilities.
M - (M)anagement