ETF (BIT:METR)
Historical Stock Chart

From Jun 2019 to Jun 2024

Argentina's biggest natural gas distributor, Metrogas (MGS, METR.BA), this week avoided default by arranging scheduled payments on its debts, as the firm's shareholders look to bring in a new partner.

In a statement to the Buenos Aires stock exchange on Tuesday, Metrogas said the payments, totaling approximately $9 million, would be made on Dec. 31.

The payments had been in doubt after the company warned in November that cash was running low, as costs have risen over the last decade but utility rates have been frozen.

The Argentine government has said it would step in to oversee the company if it entered default, to ensure supplies were maintained.

Meantime, the firm's largest shareholders, the U.K.'s BG Group PLC (BG.LN, BRGYY) and Spain's Repsol-YPF SA (REP.MC, REP), are looking at options for the longer term, including the arrival of a new partner.

"The solution we are negotiating with British Gas foresees the incorporation of a new partner for Metrogas," Sebastian Eskenazi, executive vice president at YPF, the local unit of Repsol YPF, said earlier this week, quoted by Argentine press.

A spokesman for YPF later confirmed the executive had made the comment.

Metrogas's total debt as of Sept. 30 was ARS350.7 million ($92 million), compared to ARS235 million a year earlier. Its total current liabilities were ARS418 million pesos versus ARS296 million a year ago.

BG Group owns 54.7% of holding company Consorcio Gas Argentino Sociedad Anonima, while Repsol owns 45.3%. The consortium owns 70% of Metrogas, while 20% of the shares are traded in Buenos Aires and New York, and 10% are held by employees.

-By Matthew Cowley, Dow Jones Newswires; +54 11 4103 6740; matthew.cowley@dowjones.com