Call for Heron bond adviser

THE self-appointed bondholders' champion, Gary Klesch, yesterday called for an independent adviser to be sent in to represent their interests in Heron as the company revealed losses of pounds 63m for the six months to 30 September last year.

Heron, the property to petrol pumps group, is trying to defer interest payments on bonds and fee payments to advisers just six months after a pounds 1.4bn restructuring. The group is asking bondholders for permission to defer interest on nearly pounds 400m of bonds from March to June this year. It warned that a further deferment might be needed.

It added that pounds 1.1m of restructuring fees to professional advisers would have to be deferred over the same period. Even these deferrals would themselves incur new costs of pounds 4m, it said, and the figure could be higher. 'It will probably hit pounds 6m,' Mr Klesch said.

The group has been hit by deteriorating conditions in the Spanish property market. It was also forced to make a pounds 26m provision related to foreign exchange translations.