Airport Authority inks US$769m syndicated loan
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-10-27 16:48

According to the Airport Authority, the contact was signed following a strong demand and oversubscription during the syndication.

The loan facility comprises two tranches: a HK$3 billion five-year revolving credit facility and a HK$3 billion five- year term / revolving credit facility with amortization, at an all- in costs of 17 basis points and 22 basis points over Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rates, respectively.

The participating banks include Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Citigroup and other 18 banks.

Part of the loan will be used to re-finance the HK$6 billion return of capital to the Hong Kong Special Administrative (HKSAR) government made in September this year, with the balance used to finance working capital and meet funding requirement arising from the increase in passenger and air cargo traffic.

The syndication was well received by the banking community with a total commitment of over HK$14 billion. The final issue size was set at HK$6 billion after due consideration.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, AA Chief Executive Officer David J Pang said, "The enthusiastic response to the syndication is very encouraging for Hong Kong International Airport. It demonstrates a vote of confidence in the growth prospect of the airport and our efforts to maintaining the airport's competitiveness."

He added that growth in both passenger and air cargo traffic has been strong. In the first six months of the financial year ended September 30, 2004, passenger throughput rose to about 19 million, up 12.4 percent compared with the preceding six-month period in the previous financial year.

By similar comparison, the total cargo tonnage of the previous six months grew by 4.8 percent to 1.5 million. Moreover, new monthly records for passenger traffic and air cargo throughput were set in August and September, amounting to 3.5 million people and 280,000 tons respectively.

Commenting on the syndication, AA's Finance Director Raymond Lai said, "We are glad that our syndication was well received by prominent local and international financial institutions. With their full backing, we are in a good position to source competitive priced funding to support business operation and maintain sustainable growth."

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