SINGAPORE: Singtel’s Australian subsidiary, Optus, has secured a A$1.95 billion (S$1.64 billion) committed revolving credit facility from 12 banks to refinance existing credit lines and support general corporate purposes.
Participating banks include Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Bank of China (Sydney), OCBC, DBS (Australia), and UOB (Sydney). The facility is guaranteed by Singtel Optus and its subsidiaries, Singtel announced on Friday (Jan 31).
Optus has been facing regulatory scrutiny in Australia. In November 2023, it was fined A$12 million for failing to provide emergency call services to over 2,000 customers during a nationwide outage. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) reported that the telecom carrier also neglected to check on 360 affected customers after service was restored.
In October 2024, Optus was sued by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) over alleged sales misconduct. The watchdog accused Optus of selling mobile phones and plans to vulnerable customers, including individuals with cognitive disabilities and learning difficulties. The lawsuit also alleges that Optus hired debt collectors despite knowing some contracts were fraudulently created. The ACCC is seeking penalties, consumer redress, and compliance measures.
The company has been struggling to restore its reputation after a September 2022 cyberattack compromised the data of over one million customers, sparking calls for stricter privacy regulations.
Shares of Singtel (Z74) rose 1.9% (S$0.06) to S$3.26 on Tuesday.
