Mecca developer Jabal Omar Development Company (JODC) has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Finance to extend payment deadlines on a SR3bn ($800m) loan, according to a company statement on Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange (Tadawul).

The eight-year loan was extended for three years and the first instalment is now due to be paid in January 2019, the developer said

On 1 February, the company said it failed to meet the first payment of an $800m state loan at the beginning of the year.

Jabal Omar, which is currently developing a number of projects in the Jabal Omar district near the holy mosque in Mecca, also said it plans to use a $240m credit facility from a local bank to cover the repayment. The company currently has long-term debt of more than $2bn.

Jabal Omar also recently announced it will seek to transform the firm into a holding company amid financial difficulties.

In a statement released on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) after a board meeting on 11 February, the firm laid out the strategy for what it has called a 10-year plan.