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WHY EPICOR 'S CREDIT DEAL WAS MODIFIED

Every once in a while, the reasons vendors changed their financing becomes apparent. And Epicor’s change last fall is probably one of those issues faced by many companies and banks when a bad economy takes its toll on earnings. The amended agreement removed the requirement for a coverage ratio of 3 to 1 of income to fixed costs (generally interest). And when a company suddenly doesn’t have earnings, it’s hard to maintain a positive coverage ratio.
As calculated by the company, Epicor’s ratio was just over 4 in 2007 and dropped to .82 in 2008 (both adjusted from higher figures reported last year) and .81 for 2009. That was a combination of rising debt to finance two acquisitions and losses produced by the recession. With this ratio removed from the requirements, others were added, particularly a requirement of $50 million EBIDTA at the end of each quarter. As defined by the banks, EBIDTA is actually more than EBIDTA and Epicor beats the limit easily. You’d have to assume that as the economy picks up, Epicor is going to start building a better cushion. When it amended the credit facility, Epicor was required to pay all of the $79 million in outstanding principal on the term loan, which it did by obtaining $72.5 million from the revolving credit line, plus $6.5 million from on-hand funds in September. It made another $5 million payment on December 31.
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