Greek operator Wind Hellas said it began talks with creditors because of a slump in sales and earnings in April and May caused by the government's austerity measures, Bloomberg reports. Sales in the two months dropped 27 percent from the same period a year earlier to EUR 134 million, while EBITDA and some items fell 54 percent to EUR 25.2 million, according to a presentation on the company's website. The launch of the Greek government's austerity measures in April has further impacted performance, and is putting significant additional pressure on Wind Hellas' capital structure, including its liquidity and covenants, the company said. Earnings at the company have been hurt as government spending cuts and tax increases to tackle Greece's budget deficit damaged consumer confidence and dented phone usage. The company's bonds tumbled last month on speculation that there would be another restructuring six months after Wind Hellas emerged from bankruptcy. Wind Hellas said it retained Morgan Stanley, White & Case and Karatzas & Partners as advisers on alternative options and in discussions with creditor groups and its shareholder Weather Investments. Weather Investments is the holding company for Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris. Sawiris said on 28 May he is "not ruling out" a second debt restructuring at Wind Hellas. He added he believed a restructuring "is not probable at this point". An analyst at Evolution Securities in London was cited by Bloomberg as saying that Wind Hellas effectively has about two weeks to act. It has about EUR 35 million in cash and a EUR 17.5 million amortisation payment on a bank loan due at the end of the month, he said, citing a conference call with management. After that, it has a EUR 23 million coupon payment on its bonds due on 15 July, he said. Wind Hellas's parent Hellas II was sold to Sawiris's holding company Weather Investments under last year's reorganisation. The process wiped about EUR 1.2 billion of debt from the company's balance sheet and Weather Investments injected EUR 125 million of equity. Wind Hellas has about EUR 1.8 billion of debt.
