ABP has raised £2.36bn of senior bank and bond debt to refinance the previous bank debt facilities put in place at the time of the group’s acquisition in 2006.

The group has established a Euro Medium Term Note (EMTN) programme in the name of ABP Finance Plc, from which it issued a debut 6.25% £500m bond due 14 December 2026. The successful issue of the bonds followed the rating of BBB+ by Fitch Ratings Ltd. and Baa2 by Moody’s Investors Service. ABP has also raised bank debt with maturities of three, five, and seven years from a group of 11 banks.

Outlining what the refinancing means for ABP, Chief Financial Officer Sebastian Bull commented: “We now have a long-term capital structure to match our business model and support our contracts and revenue streams.  We have successfully diversified our funding and consolidated our key banking relationships to 11 from over 40.”

Barclays Capital, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Lloyds Bank, and RBS acted as active bookrunners on the bond issue; with Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, National Australia Bank, and Scotia Capital acting as passive bookrunners. These seven banks were joined by CBA, CIBC, EDC, and JP Morgan as loan bookrunners.

Barclays Capital and Goldman Sachs acted as Structuring Banks. Rothschild acted as Debt and Swaps Procurement Adviser. Erias Finance advised the board of ABP.

ABP was advised by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer while Clifford Chance advised the funders.

Those matters were decided during the Port Commission’s regular Dec. 13 meeting, where Port Commission Chairman Jim Edmonds announced that Port Authority CEO Alec G. Dreyer would not seek an extension of his three-year contract, which runs through September of 2012.

“Alec has done a great job,” Edmonds said, noting the CEO had exceeded budget expectations this year, with strong volumes being recorded.  He also commented that he expected to provide a selection of search firms for review by the Port Commission at its January meeting.

Dreyer’s announcement was made after he received a letter from the Harris County District Attorney following an investigation requested by both Edmonds and Dreyer into claims that they had not acted in full compliance with state law.  The DA’s letter vindicated Dreyer, explaining that he had acted appropriately and followed the law.  The DA’s office also announced that there was no wrongdoing or improper conduct by Edmonds.

In a statement, Dreyer said, “I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished, but I have decided not to seek reappointment and rather to go back to the business world.  I’m happy to serve until a replacement is found.”

Also during the meeting, representatives from the Baytown/West Chambers County Economic Development Foundation, Bay Area Houston Transportation Partnership, Greater Houston Partnership, Houston Area Urban League, Houston East End Chamber of Commerce, Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and North Channel Area Chamber of Commerce shared the latest news about their organizations and thanked the Port Authority for its support.

In his monthly report, Dreyer said that in November, for the first time in several months, the Port Authority had strong operating results in both primary cargo categories: containers and steel.  

Year-to-date, total ship arrivals for PHA are up 2.5 percent, he said.  Barge traffic increased nearly 9.2 percent over last year for the first 11 months.

Container TEU volumes were up a robust 8.5 percent for the month.  Year-to-date, container TEUs are up 3 percent overall.

“Our container performance in November contrasts sharply with the double-digit declines being experienced at West Coast ports,” Dreyer said. “As a measure of economic health, container tonnage was up a strong 9 percent.  At this point, we can only assume that the typical holiday surge that we normally see in October just showed up one month later this year.”

Steel had another huge month in November with a total of 432,000 tons, nearly twice the level as in 2010.  Year-to-date, steel is up 63 percent over last year and stands at 4 million tons, compared to a total for all of last year of just 2.7 million tons. Projected annual total will be around 4.2 million tons.

Dreyer noted that total G&A expenses were down from last year’s level by almost $4 million or nearly 9 percent, and commended officers and staff for “an excellent job in controlling our costs and focusing on financial performance.”

“Year-to-date, net income is about $13 million ahead of the original budget for the first eleven months of the year—again this is being driven primarily by the strong steel performance during the year,” he reported.

The Norwegian municipalities of Vikna, Leka and Nærøy are jointly procuring four MacGregor floating terminals for water taxis, each comprising a pontoon and shore walkway.  Passengers will be able to access a water taxi at all states of tide without needing to negotiate steps.  All of the terminals are due to be opened for service on 17th May 2012.

Grenland Havn is upgrading the port in Langesund to accommodate the new vessels which are being built for Fjord Line service between Norway and Denmark. Cargotec has been assigned delivery of a hydraulically operated vehicle shore ramp, which is 27m wide by 14m long. Delivery is due at the beginning of August 2012.

The Department of Transportation received 848 project applications requesting a total of $14.29 billion. Four of the 46 capital project funding requests selected for awards go directly to America’s port-related infrastructure, totalling $62,238,246, or about 12 percent of the total $511,423,147 in capital grant funds available. Millions more go to projects that indirectly aid the efficient movement of goods to and from America’s seaports.
LaHood has indicated on numerous occasions the value and importance of seaport-related infrastructure to America’s overall transportation system and our nation’s competitiveness in global trade. This is a recognition by the national government of the critical role our nation’s ports play and the federal support in TIGER III for seaports. Considering the vast number of applications submitted for the relatively small pot of money available, we recognize there was a lot of competition for the limited funds. However, many in the industry are expecting to continue to advocate for a 25 percent share of future TIGER grants, which industry leaders think is the appropriate amount — since port infrastructure investments are one of the four eligibleareas (along with highways/bridges, transit, and freight/passenger rail) for the program. Since the program’s inception as part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, AAPA has been a strong supporter of the TIGER multimodal
discretionary grant program. In the first round of TIGER grant awards, port-related infrastructure projects received only 8 percent of the original $1.5 billion. In the second round of grants, port-related infrastructure did better, garnering approximately 17 percent of the total $556.6 million in capital grant funds available. Projects directly related to seaports included in TIGER III awards are:

–  South Jersey Port Rail Improvements for $18,500,000 to repair the DelAir Bridge, linking the rail networks of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. This major connection will be repaired to accommodate the transport of industry-standard 286,000-pound rail cars and enhance freight movement throughout the Northeast region. It is part of a larger effort to repair the rail network from the DelAir Bridge to the Port of Salem, including the ports of Paulsboro and Camden, which must be significantly upgraded to accommodate the anticipated increased demand in rail and port traffic.

–  Port of Long Beach Rail Realignment for $17,000,000 to improve the lead tracks to two Port of Long Beach rail yards and relieve a chokepoint at the Ocean Boulevard overcrossing, where a large portion of the cargo transits enters or exits port property. The project will improve efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of freight movements, and create jobs, enabling the port to move 35 percent of goods via on-dock rail by 2035.

– Port of New Orleans Rail Yard Improvements for $16,738,246 to rebuild a specialized Port of New Orleans rail yard at the Louisiana Avenue terminal along the Mississippi River. The overall project has
two components: construction of a new 12-acre freight rail intermodal terminal; and resurfacing and fortifying a 4-acre storage yard that is used for ultra-heavy project cargoes.  The project’s objective is to reduce congestion, facilitate the movement of marine and rail cargo, stimulate international commerce and maintain an essential port asset in a state of good repair.

–   Dames Point Intermodal Container Facility for $10,000,000 to help complete a new Intermodal Container Transfer Facility (ICTF) at the Port of Jacksonville that will be used by CSX railroad. The ICTF will include a five-track rail yard, two wide-span electric cranes and a paved area for stacking containers and several support uses, including a road and gate for truck movement of cargo, a parking area and storm-water retention facilities. In addition to those mentioned above, there are a number of TIGER III awarded projects that address key congestion points along main rail lines, inland port facilities and highway trade corridors. These will also have a positive impact on freight mobility and the movement of goods to and from America’s seaports.