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hree units of Indonesia'€™s biggest coal miner PT Bumi Resources Tbk had filed for protection from US creditors after failing to make debt interest payments, a move that would give them more time to restructure their debt, Reuters reported Tuesday.

The filing comes a week after Bumi Investment Pte Ltd., Bumi Capital Pte Ltd. and Enercoal Resources Pte Ltd. also obtained a six-month moratorium in a Singapore court against legal action from creditors.

Bumi Resources shares surged as much as 12.2 percent on Tuesday, their biggest jump since July, but later gave up some of their gains to close up 4.9 percent. The Jakarta stock exchange ended 0.2 percent higher.

According to the latest US filing, Bumi Resources and its three units have missed several interest payments since September on debts worth a total of US$1.375 billion.

Bumi Resources has to reach an agreement with its creditors or undergo a restructuring process under Indonesian law to achieve '€œa meaningful recovery'€ for its units and affiliates, Chief Financial Officer Andrew Beckham said in the US court documents.

Bumi Resources has an interest in 67 entities incorporated in various jurisdictions. These entities have either started a restructuring process or are preparing a restructuring plan, as well as negotiating with various creditors on their debt repayment.

Standard & Poor'€™s (S&P) Rating Services has downgraded its rating of Indonesia'€™s largest coal miner Bumi Resources'€™ $300 million bond '€” due in 2016 '€” after the Bakrie-affiliated firm obtained a six-month moratorium from a Singaporean court that halts all debt repayment transactions.

S&P announced in a written statement on Tuesday that the rating agency had a long-term issue rating of '€œD'€ on the $300 million senior secured notes due 2006 that Bumi Resources guaranteed. The notes were issued by the country'€™s largest coal producer'€™s subsidiary Bumi Capital Pte Ltd.

'€œWe removed the issue rating from CreditWatch, where it was placed with negative implications on Aug. 13, 2014,'€ the rating agency added.

At the same time, the rating agency maintained its '€œD'€ rating on the $700 million secure notes due 2017 that another Bumi Resources'€™ subsidiary, Bumi Investment Pte Ltd., issued. Bumi Resources guaranteed these notes too. The notes remain in default because interest on these notes remains unpaid after the date.

The downgrade came after Bumi obtained a six-month moratorium from a Singaporean court earlier this month, which enables the company to have '€œundisrupted negotiations'€ with all creditors and bondholders and stop debt repayment transactions until a global restructuring scheme is agreed upon.

'€œThe moratorium means Bumi Resources will not service interest or repay principal on its notes when due. This will extend to all its debt obligations until its debt restructuring is complete. We assess this to be a general default by Bumi Resources,'€ S&P credit analyst Vishal Kulkarni said in the statement.

'€œBecause of the moratorium, we believe Bumi Resources will not pay the interest on the US$300 million in notes within the grace period that ends on Dec. 10, 2014.'€

The announcement came not long after S&P downgraded the $700 million notes guaranteed by Bumi, after a missing payment last month.

Bumi, in a public expose held last week, lamented S&P'€™s decision to down grade its bond rating, saying that the report was made '€œwithout taking notes on actual circumstances in the field, using outdated models that put aside mitigation moves that have been taken by the company in facing sectoral sentiment and plunging coal prices'€.

'€œWe have improved our sales and reduced costs,'€ the company said.