Tocumen pays more for bond issue after laundering glitch
AFTER A grueling on-off-on week, Tocumen, S.A., the public company that manages Tocumen International Airport, finally managed to place bonds on the stock market for $575 million Friday to fund the expansion of the terminal.
They got less than they originally sought and will pay a higher rate of interest.
Tocumen Director Joseph Fidanque III said the bonds were sold despite the uncertainty surrounding Grupo Wisa,[Waked] which operates duty free shops at the airport. That company has been accused by the United States of money laundering for drug traffickers.
The uncertainty prompted the company to reduce its emission from $625 million to $575 million and delay it from earlier in the week.
“We were able to place $575 million in bonds despite the initial setbacks in the market,” said Fidanque.
The interest rate increased from 5.375 percent to 5.62 percent.
The airport’s contract with Wisa expires in December 2017, but the authority is seeking ways to cancel the contract
Fidanque emphasized that the most important aspect of the bond issue was the recovery of confidence of investors and the market. He said it was the largest emission for an air transport project in Latin America.
“With so much stress in the environment, this is very good news,” said financial analyst Álvaro Naranjo.
Credit agencies Fitch and Standard & Poor’s reaffirmed their ratings of Tocumen, with a rating of AAA locally and BBB internationally.
