An announcement on the refinancing will be made tomorrow, possibly as the company reports its annual profit for the year ended March.
Forsyth Barr broker Suzanne Kinnaird told the Otago Daily Times that speculation over the weekend about F&P Appliances money situation had prompted the company to ask for a trading halt.
The company had been rolling over its current funding facility of about $80 million for several months but it was due to be renewed on Friday.
Forsyth Barr believed the company was considering an equity raising and possibly bringing in a cornerstone shareholder.
"We believe F&P Appliances needs to raise around $150 million to $200 million of new equity as well as moving its debt on to a secure rather than negative pledge basis."
The company could also look at a bond issue, share placements or a rights issue to all existing shareholders.
Ms Kinnaird was forecasting F&P Appliances to report a 3.5% fall in appliance revenue to $1.23 million.
However, earnings before interest and tax was forecast to more than halve at $40 million.
In mid-February, the company downgraded its full-year guidance to $25 million to $30 million before abnormal items, or around break-even including relocation costs and gains on property sales.
The Cleveland property was still unsold and F&P Appliances probably expected a gain on sale of around $15 million to $20 million, implying the loss after tax was likely to be of that order, she said.
"While moving manufacturing to Asia and Mexico will help F&P Appliances remain price competitive, and raw material costs have fallen dramatically, which will have a positive impact in 2010, the company faces sharply falling demand in its major markets and intense competition for sales," Ms Kinnaird said.
