Delta seeks to cut pandemic debt burden with bond buyback

Delta is offering to buy back up to $1b of high-cost bonds issued at the height of the pandemic last year, as the company begins to look at ways to scale back its balance sheet. The tender offer is for three bonds issued between April and September 2020, according to a news release. The airline raised cash to survive the crisis as travel collapsed worldwide amid lockdowns to try to contain the Covid-19 outbreak. Story has details of the offer, which investors can choose to accept or not, and shows that the airline is beginning to chip away at its balance sheet that has seen debt swell over the last year. Delta’s adjusted net debt was $18.3b through the June quarter, or $7.8b higher than December 2019, it said in a report earlier this week. The company finally reversed a cash burn and generated $1.5b of cash in the latest quarter. “With improving financial performance and a strong liquidity position, we’re using cash to reduce leverage and non-operating expense while rebuilding unencumbered assets and managing our debt maturity profile,” said interim-CFO Gary Chase in an earnings call on Wednesday.<br/>