Tag: funds (Page 1 of 2)

Alstom to build two infrastructure sections on Florence tramway Line 4

January 12, 2024 / WIL BALDWIN

January 12, 2024 – Alstom SA (Paris: ALSO), a global leader in smart and sustainable mobility, has been awarded a contract by the Municipality of Florence, valued at € 50 million for the construction of track, catenary, substations, and lighting system for Line 4.2 of the city’s tram system, with an option for Line 4.1, worth €49 million.

The tender was awarded to a temporary consortium of companies composed by the mandated company CMB together with Alstom, Hitachi Rail and ComNet, and covers operations spanning across a distance of 5.3 kilometres (11 stops) of Line 4.2 Campi Bisenzio-Piagge. The Line 4.2 will connect Le Piagge station to San Donnino and from there to the centre of Campi Bisenzio.

The contract includes an option, for the second lot, which will cover the 6.3 kilometres of Line 4.1 Piagge-Leopolda (13 stops) will connect Line 4.2 with the city centre.

The project is financed by National Recovery and Resilience Plan funds.

The works will be carried out by the System & Infrastructure team in Rome and the components for the electric traction will be designed and supplied by the Alstom site in Valmadrera, Lecco.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including expected delivery dates. Such statements are based on current expectations and projections about our future results, prospects and opportunities and are not guarantees of future performance. Such statements will not be updated unless required by law. Actual results and performance may differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Lufthansa Group Successfully Secures Further Liquidity on the Capital Market

November 10, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Third corporate bond of 1.5 billion euros issued in 2021
Lufthansa Group takes advantage of favorable market conditions
Placement with two maturities of two and five-and-a-half years complements Lufthansa Group’s maturity profile

Deutsche Lufthansa AG (OTC: DLAKY) has again successfully issued a bond with a total volume of 1.5 billion euros. The bond, with a denomination of 100,000 euros, was placed in two tranches with terms of two and five-and-a-half years respectively. The tranche with a term until 16 November 2023 has a volume of 600 million euros and bears interest of 1.625 percent per year. The tranche with a term until 16 May 2027 has a volume of 900 million euros and bears interest of 2.875 percent. The two tranches over two and five-and-a-half years fit perfectly into the Group’s maturity profile.

Remco Steenbergen, Chief Financial Officer of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, stated: “The long-term funds, which were again raised at attractive terms, will be used to further strengthen the Lufthansa Group’s liquidity and refinance existing debt. This placement is one of several successful capital market transactions that we have executed since the end of last year and will further contribute to the full repayment of the government stabilization measures in Germany.”

Tesla to be Added to the S&P 500 Index

November 16, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) will be joining the S&P 500 index, expanding its investor base and putting the electric car maker in the same company as market behemoths such as Alphabet, Amazon.com, Apple, and Microsoft.

The announcement, made Monday afternoon by the S&P Dow Jones Indices, sent the company’s shares 13.7% higher in after-market trading. Tesla will officially join the benchmark stock index before the market opens on December 21, the index stated.

When Tesla joins the S&P 500, it will be one of the most valuable companies on the benchmark index. The weighting will be so influential that the S&P is debating whether or not to add the stock at its full market capitalization weight all at once, or in two separate tranches.

Amtrak Supplemental Funding Needed to Maintain Minimum Service Levels

May 27, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

Amtrak submitted a letter to Congress outlining an additional $1.475 billion in supplemental funding needed in FY 2021. This additional funding is necessary for Amtrak to operate minimum service levels across the passenger rail network and continue capital investments for the future. The funds would also support Amtrak’s 17 state partners on the National Network and nine commuter and state partners on the Northeast Corridor.

“As the severity and duration of this pandemic and its economic fallout become clearer, we are seeking supplemental federal funding for the next fiscal year,” said Amtrak President and CEO Bill Flynn in the letter.

To help offset the impact of revenue losses, Amtrak is taking significant steps to reduce its operating costs by approximately $500 million, including temporarily reducing train capacity across our system to match demand, restructuring our workforce, and controlling discretionary expenses. Yet even with these steps, Amtrak still requires additional federal investment in FY 2021.

“It is clear that Amtrak faces daunting challenges in Fiscal Year 2021, which will require us to take action to protect our rail network, our critical capital assets, and the livelihoods of our employees,” said Flynn in the letter.

With strong ridership and revenue levels in the first quarter of FY 2020, Amtrak was on track for another record-breaking year. However, Amtrak, like all other modes, has seen a dramatic decline in demand for service since the pandemic, and is expecting ridership to only return to approximately 50% in FY 2021. The $1.475 billion is in addition to Amtrak’s $2.040 billion annual grant request submitted to Congress earlier this year, and without this support, Amtrak will be unable to minimize the impacts to service and its workforce as described in the letter.

Korean Air to Issue $817 Million in New Shares as Virus Strains Industry

May 14, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s largest airline, Korean Air, plans to sell around 1 trillion won ($816.55 million) in new shares in its biggest rights issue in 20 years to raise funds amid mounting strains in the industry due to the pandemic.

Korean Air is the latest carrier to raise funds as travel restrictions imposed by governments around the world have led to airlines grounding their fleets worldwide.

Korean Air separately plans to receive 1.2 trillion won in support from South Korean state-owned banks.

About 79 million newly issued shares, to be listed on July 29, will be first bought by the carrier’s shareholders, including holding company Hanjin Kal which has a 30% stake in the carrier, followed by general public, the company said in a statement.

“Korean Air will continue to carry out self-rescue measures to overcome the dismal business environment due to COVID-19,” the company said.

Korean Air had 70% or more of its employees working in South Korea take a six-month leave of absence in April. Woo Kee-hong, the airline’s president, warned in March that the coronavirus outbreak could threaten its survival if the situation becomes prolonged.

Korean Air also picked last month a preferred bidder to buy its real estate and non-core assets, which some analysts value at about 400-500 billion won.

Korean Air had a debt-to-equity ratio of about 870% as of end-2019. It is expected to announce January-March quarter earnings later this week.

A spokeswoman for Korean Air said it was operating just 10% of its previously planned international schedule, and 60% of its domestic schedule.

The airline said it expects its June international schedule to rise to 20% of its previous plan, as it announced the addition of more international passenger flights to prepare for increased travel demand once COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed.

United Airlines Holdings Inc said earlier this month it plans to raise $2.25 billion through a bond offering, after announcing a public offering to raise more than $1 billion in April.

In March, Singapore Airlines said it would issue S$5.3 billion ($3.70 billion) in new equity and up to S$9.7 billion($6.78 billion) via mandatory convertible bonds in a rights issue backed by state investor Temasek Holdings.

($1 = 1,224.6700 won)

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Louise Heavens)

Korean Air’s passenger planes are parked following outbreak of COVID-19, at Incheon International Airport

Alaska’s RavnAir Files for Bankruptcy as U.S. Treasury Mulls Grants

April 7, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) – RavnAir Group, the largest regional carrier in Alaska, filed for bankruptcy Sunday and grounded all of its 72 planes as it waits on a decision from U.S. Treasury for government assistance.

The Trump administration is weighing applications from numerous airlines as it considers how to disburse $25 billion in passenger airline grants, $4 billion for cargo carriers and $3 billion for airport contractors. Congress approved the bailout funds to help air carriers cover payroll costs.

RavnAir, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware, said Sunday it was suspending all operations and laying off all employees.

“We took these actions to ensure our airline has a future, and to give us time to ‘hit pause'” while it seeks Treasury grants and “other sources of financial assistance that will allow us to weather the coronavirus pandemic and emerge successfully once it has passed.”

In a letter posted Sunday, RavnAir Chief Executive Dave Pflieger said the airline was working to “resume the vital air service you depend on to get home to your families, to your businesses, to medical appointments, and to other duties that are essential to our communities and the state of Alaska.”

Delta Air Lines Inc, American Airlines Group Inc , Spirit Airlines Inc, Southwest Airlines Co , United Airlines Holdings Inc and JetBlue Airways Corp are among the airlines that confirmed they filed before a Friday deadline set by Treasury to get speedy consideration.

On Sunday, top Democrats including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Charles Schumer urged Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to move quickly and not impose unreasonable conditions on the grants. Airline unions and many Democrats object to Treasury demanding significant equity or warrants as a condition to the grants.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Trump Proposes Cutting Amtrak Funding, Boost Infrastructure

February 10, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

WASHINGTON, Feb 10 (Reuters) – The White House budget released on Monday proposed cutting funding for passenger rail carrier Amtrak, while calling for a significant boost in infrastructure spending.

The proposal would cut Amtrak funds by more than 50% over 2020 levels. It could cut funds to the congested northeast corridor from $700 million to $325 million and cut long-distance train funds from $1.3 billion to $611 million and then phase out support for long-distance trains.

Trump has proposed similar cuts in prior budgets and been rejected, and Democrats are not likely to go along. Trump has sparred with Democratic lawmakers over a $13 billion infrastructure project to build and repair tunnels and bridges in the New York City area known as “Gateway.”

In November, Amtrak said for the year ended Sept. 30, it had set records for ridership, revenue, and financial performance, including 32.5 million customer trips, a year-over-year increase of 800,000 passengers.

Amtrak reported a loss of $29.8 million in the year through September 2019 compared with a loss of $170.6 million in the prior fiscal year.

The Trump budget calls for $810 billion in highway, transit, safety and other surface transportation funds and then an additional $190 billion for a wide range of programs including $25 billion for rural water, broadband and other projects. It does not specify how to pay for the repairs or for funding an estimated $107 billion shortfall in the highway trust fund through 2026.

The budget again also calls for eliminating an Energy Department clean vehicle loan program that boosted Tesla Inc , Nissan Motor Co and Ford Motor Co during the last industry downturn, but has not funded a new project in almost a decade.

Start-up Lordstown Motors Chief Executive Steve Burns told Reuters last month the company wanted to apply for a $200 million loan from the Energy Department program to retool a former General Motors factory in Lordstown, Ohio. Burns met with Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette for an hour to discuss the proposal last month. Lordstown is partially owned by start-up Workhorse Group Inc.

The budget also again proposes killing the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit that phases out for automakers after 200,000 EVs are sold. The White House blocked an effort in December by congressional Democrats to expand the credit to additional vehicles.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Acela at B&P Tunnel Acela, Amtrak, B&P Tunnel, Baltimore, NEC, maryland An Acela train emerges from the B&P Tunnel in Baltimore.

Mitsubishi Postpones SpaceJet Delivery Again, Books $4.5 Billion Special Loss

February 6, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said on Thursday it will book a 496.4 billion yen ($4.5 billion) special loss after its aircraft unit delayed the delivery of its SpaceJet regional jet for at least another year until after March 2021.

The sixth delay announced by Mitsubishi Aircraft is a fresh blow to Japan’s commercial jet ambitions and could stretch Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ finances.

The company cited the special loss as one reason for wiping out a forecast for operating profit of 220 billion yen in the business year ending March 31.

The new postponement also means an aircraft that Mitsubishi Heavy had planned to bring to market in 2013, will have to compete against a new generation of regional jets built by Brazil’s Embraer SA <ERJ>.

Japan’s biggest airline by revenue, ANA Holdings Inc., is now to take the first delivery of the jet sometime after March 2021.

Mitsubishi Heavy, which builds products ranging from nuclear reactors and ships to rockets and industrial machinery, has traditionally relied on stronger units to support weaker businesses.

“We use cashflow and borrowing to finance our projects and going forward the SpaceJet development will require further funds,” a spokesman for Mitsubishi Heavy said. The company, he added, had no plan at the moment to raise capital for aircraft development.

Government funding would not be an option for Japan’s biggest heavy machinery maker even though the SpaceJet is backed by the government because doing so would contravene World Trade Organization (WTO) rules banning taxpayer subsidies.

A spokeswoman for Mitsubishi Aircraft declined to say how much development of the SpaceJet has cost so far.

The company on Thursday said it had appointed Takaoki Niwa, the head of its U.S. operations, as its new president, replacing Hisakazu Mizutani, who will become chairman.

(Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Kim Coghill and Christopher Cushing)

China’s HNA Steps Up Efforts to Sell Swissport at Big Discount

February 5, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

LONDON/FRANKFURT, Feb 5 (Reuters) – China’s HNA Group is resuming efforts to find a buyer for airport luggage handler Swissport despite facing a loss of several hundred million dollars on its initial $2.8 billion investment, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The Chinese conglomerate has rekindled talks with several heavyweight investment funds as it needs to raise cash to cut its debts, the sources said.

Rothschild is helping HNA identify prospective bidders, who are hoping to buy the Zurich-based business on the cheap after previous attempts to sell it stalled last year, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the process is not public.

U.S. buyout funds Apollo Global Management Inc and Cerberus as well as Canadian asset manager Brookfield have come forward to revisit a possible acquisition of Swissport, the sources said.

Two other U.S. investors – Bain Capital and Centerbridge Partners – are also looking to take part in a new auction, two of the sources said, adding interest from industry buyers had waned.

HNA is hoping to limit its losses and recoup at least $2.3 billion from the sale, one of the sources said.

But offers are expected to value Swissport at about $2 billion, two of the sources said, with one adding Apollo had previously offered $2.1 billion.

This means HNA may need to swallow a loss of more than $500 million to offload the business, which has annual core earnings of about $270 million, they said.

HNA, Apollo, Cerberus, Brookfield and Bain declined to comment, while Centerbridge was not available.

HNA bought Swissport for 2.7 billion Swiss francs ($2.8 billion) in 2016 in a deal that was meant to complement its sprawling portfolio of investments in aviation, logistics and tourism.

But the Chinese giant had to look into cashing out at the start of 2018 when its liquidity challenges turned it into one of China’s most indebted companies and forced it to quickly sell assets.

The 20-year old company, led by chairman Chen Feng, came under pressure after embarking on an aggressive M&A spree in the United States and Europe with deals worth an overall $50 billion.

It made a push into the travel and tourism industry, buying a 25% stake in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc in 2016 and then branched out into financial services, becoming the leading investor in Deutsche Bank.

But its M&A binge resulted in cash flow problems, prompting a review of all its business interests overseas.

HNA initially considered a possible listing of Swissport on the Swiss SIX Exchange in 2018, but then opted for an outright sale.

Apollo and Cerberus, which bought Paris-based Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) in 2018, were both initial contenders for Swissport, but negotiations stalled after the Swiss company secured a refinancing package in August.

($1 = 0.9727 Swiss francs)

(Reporting By Pamela Barbaglia and Clara Denina in London and Arno Schuetze in Frankfurt; Editing by Mark Potter)

Avolon CEO Says Green Airlines Should Pay Less to Lease Planes

January 20, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

DUBLIN, Jan 20 (Reuters) – Airlines with the best environmental scores should pay less for leasing aircraft than more polluting competitors, the head of one of the world’s top leasing companies said on Monday.

The radical proposal from Dublin-based Avolon comes as aviation firms face mounting scrutiny over climate policies not only from environmental groups but also investment funds that monitor Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance.

Avolon, one of the top three aircraft lessors, claims to have one of the industry’s youngest and most efficient fleets.

“But that narrative is not good enough for the next 1, 2, 3 or 4 years,” Chief Executive Domhnal Slattery warned.

“More and more of our major bond investors are keen to understand what our ‘E’ strategy is within ‘ESG’. We in turn are keen to understand when underwriting our airline credits what their ‘E’ strategy is,” he told Reuters.

Slattery predicted that lessors, which depend heavily on access to funds to run their capital-intensive businesses, would in future exert more pressure on airlines.

“You could see over time that airlines that have a better environmental score could get lower lease rates,” he said.

Click the link to read the full story!

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/avolon-ceo-says-greener-airlines-195857989.html

Archives