Fitch Rates Alabama State Port Authority 'A-'.NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of -- Fitch assigns an 'A-' rating to the following Alabama State Port Authority (the authority) dock facilities revenue bonds: -- $154,375,000 series 2006A (AMT See vPro. ); -- $70,535,000 series 2006B (non-AMT); -- $60,455,000 series 2006C(AMT); -- $20,385,000 series 2006D (AMT). The Rating Outlook is Stable. The series 2006A and 2006B fixed-rate bonds will price via negotiation led by Goldman, Sachs & Co. on or about Oct. 24, 2006. The series 2006C auction-rate bonds and 2006D fixed-rate bonds will price via negotiation on Nov. 8 and Nov. 28, respectively, also led by Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., or simply Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) is one of the world's largest global investment banks. Goldman Sachs was founded in 1869, and is headquartered in the Lower Manhattan area of New York City at 85 Broad Street. & Co. Interest on the bonds is paid semi-annually, beginning April 1, 2007. Final maturity of the series 2006A and 2006B bonds occurs on Oct. 1, 2036. The series 2006C and 2006D bonds have a final maturity of Oct. 1, 2021 and Oct. 1, 2030, respectively. Proceeds of the bonds will be applied by the authority to fund approximately $105 million of capital improvements and refund all outstanding dock facilities revenue bonds (approximately $173 million) and a subordinate capital equipment lease (approximately $20 million). The bonds are secured by a gross pledge of dock facilities revenues. Certain state of Alabama (state) tax revenues, including those derived from a 13-cent per ton coal severance tax severance tax n. A tax imposed by a state on the extraction of natural resources, such as oil, coal, or gas, that will be used in other states. , and the first $9.5 million of tax revenue generated from an 8% special oil and gas excise tax Excise Tax 1. An indirect tax charged on the sale of a particular good. 2. A penalty tax applied to ineligible transactions in retirement accounts. This penalty is assessed by and paid to the IRS. Notes: 1. , are available, if necessary, to support repayment of dock facilities bond debt service. Although these tax revenues are not legally pledged to the bonds, they are available to cure any revenue deficiency resulting from the payment of debt service and operating expenses Operating expenses The amount paid for asset maintenance or the cost of doing business, excluding depreciation. Earnings are distributed after operating expenses are deducted. from dock facilities revenues. In addition to the tax revenues, the authority also benefits from a conditional appropriation of up to $3.5 million which may be drawn upon if needed to support operations. In Fitch's view, the commitment of the state to provide financial support to the authority, if necessary, enhances the overall security afforded to bondholders and is an important component to the rating. Important to note is that the authority has not required any tax support since 1988 and has only required the conditional appropriation once over the past decade to discharge an obligation to U.S. States A U.S. state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of the United States, although four states use the official title "commonwealth". The separate state governments and the federal government share sovereignty, in that an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and Corps of Engineers related to channel dredging dredging, process of excavating materials underwater. It is used to deepen waterways, harbors, and docks and for mining alluvial mineral deposits, including tin, gold, and diamonds. . The 'A-' rating reflects the authority's important role in state economic development, confirmed by the state's commitment to provide operating support, if needed, and demonstrated by the state's history of providing grant funding for authority capital projects. The rating also reflects a dominant market position in coal handling and storage; historically healthy operating performance and debt service coverage despite exposure to the volatile and competitive coal industry; and limited additional capital needs. Credit concerns center on the authority's business line and revenue concentration in the volatile coal market, which provided a disproportionately high 60% of operating revenues operating revenue Revenue from any regular source. Revenue from sales is adjusted for discounts and returns when calculating operating revenue. Compare other revenue. during fiscal 2005. This concentration risk is further exacerbated by the very few number of coal importers/exporters accounting for the bulk of the authority's business. Other credit risks include low levels of unrestricted liquidity, particularly given the operating volatility; a lack of long-term leasing arrangements with most tenants, providing only limited downside protection Downside Protection Generally used in connection with covered call writing, this is the cushion against loss, in case of a price decline by the underlying security, that is afforded by the written call option. in the event of activity declines; and the authority's upfront assumption of most financial risks during development of tenant facilities. Though much of these capital costs are recovered by the authority from tenants in later years through the levy of throughput related assessments, the timing and, in some cases, the amount of such recoverables are subject to the financial performance of the tenants. Created by the state in August 2000, the authority is responsible for the construction, maintenance, and operation of all harbors and seaports This is a list of the world's seaports: Atlantic Ocean
2. The act of congress of March 2, 1799, s. 64, 1 Story's L. U. S. 630, directs that to ascertain the tonnage of any ship or vessel, the surveyor, &c. of coal among U.S. coastal ports. This dominant market position is tempered by the significant volatility in annual coal import and export demand and the highly competitive domestic and international coal production industry. Port operating performance has been historically healthy, with operating ratios Operating Ratio A ratio that shows the efficiency of management by comparing operating expense to net sales: generally in the low 30% range. Fluctuations in this ratio have been observed, however, during periods of decreased coal shipment (e.g. fiscal 2003 and 2006). Coverage of debt service remains in compliance with bond order tests, with net revenues available for debt service (excluding available state tax revenues) providing 1.93 times (x) coverage during fiscal 2005. Liquidity is fairly weak, especially for an authority subject to business and revenue volatility, with unrestricted cash and investments falling to just $8 million for the first 11 months of 2006. While this amount was influenced by several external events outside of the authority's control, including hurricanes and coal shipment interruption, it remains below average for the rating category. Mitigating this risk to some degree is a management policy mandating a minimum of unrestricted cash and investments equal to 90-days operating and maintenance expenses. Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use Terms of Use are rules set up by the owner of an intellectual property or service to govern how they may be legally used. In many cases, terms of service are used as a contractual agreement between a company and users of a service they provide. of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures Policies and Procedures are a set of documents that describe an organization's policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. They are often initiated because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site. |
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