News: YAL Yancoal Australia to prepay $1 billion debt as surging coal prices boost cashflows

Sept 30 (Reuters) - Coal miner Yancoal Australia Ltd (YAL) said on Friday it would prepay $1 billion in debt by October, as persistent strength in coal prices support strong cash inflows.

Western sanctions on Russia, the world's third-largest exporter of coal, have sparked a scramble for alternate supplies, sending prices of the commodity to record highs.

"Yancoal’s scale of production provides substantial cash inflows during periods of elevated coal prices," Yancoal Chief Executive Officer, David Moult said.

The planned prepayment will be made on Oct. 4 and is part of the miner's repayment towards its syndicated facility and its unsecured related-party loans, Yancoal added, without disclosing when the debt was originally scheduled to be repaid.

The prepayment combined with previously fulfilled mandatory repayments would result in Yancoal clearing over $2 billion in debt in the last 12 months, it said.

Yancoal, which this month terminated a deal involving a takeover by its largest shareholder, China's Yankuang Energy 600188.SS 1171.HK , said the prepayment will help it cut down finance costs by $207 million over the loan periods.

After the payment, the company's total debt will be down to$792 million, with mandatory repayments of the majority of the debt due in the second half of 2024 and 2026, Moult added.