Edesur extends bond program for 5 yrs.

Shareholders of Argentine power distributor Edesur have agreed to extend a US$450mn bond program by another five years until October 2008, the company said in a statement to the Buenos Aires stock market. Edesur has not issued any bonds under the program so far. The company currently has a total of US$200mn debts with commercial banks, 85% of which is in US dollars and all of which matures within the next 12 months. Edesur's financial manager Ignacio Uranga said in July that extending the life of the bond program would give the company another financing alternative should it need one. He also said the company planned to offer US$10mn-20mn of bonds to local pension funds before the end of the year. The amount will be relatively small and the due date relatively short because the issue would be Edesur's first since Argentina's financial crisis, and it wants an issue that is straightforward to pay off. Chilean power sector holding Enersis controls Edesur, which serves over two million clients in the south of Buenos Aires. Edesur officials were not immediately available for comment Monday.