Cezary Podkul

The listed toll road developer reported a 9.7% increase in its interim revenue to A$416m as traffic increased on all but two of its Australian toll roads. Net profit of A$3.2m was sharply lower compared with the six months ended 31 December 2007.

Draft legislation in circulation on Capitol Hill envisions a 'National Infrastructure Reinvestment Corporation' that would spur $48bn of infrastructure investment by providing grants, loans and tax incentives to select projects sponsored by public, private and non-profit entities.

Actis director Alasdair Maclay also advised delegates gathered at PEI's Infrastructure Investor Forum that the firm’s equity returns expectations have held steady and that entry prices will eventually rise, creating lucrative exit opportunities.

The deal allows the troubled infrastructure fund manager to proceed with a sell down of its assets over a two to three year period as it begins to repay the A$3.2bn it owes to a syndicate of 25 banks on a 'pay if you can' basis.

Infrastructure investors active in the region can expect more club deals by banks and a resurgence of multilateral and export agencies as sources of liquidity, according to project finance lawyers at law firm Shearman & Sterling.

Fund placement agents active in the asset class say LPs are likely to stick with infrastructure despite the economic downturn and may even up their commitments as a result of it.

Cezary Podkul looks at how the US stimulus bill will impact the upcoming debate on infrastructure spending.

The American Society of Civil Engineers also assigned a cumulative grade of D to the nation’s infrastructure. It is the fourth time the US earned that grade in the study, while the estimated spending needed to improve the state of the infrastructure continued to climb from $1.6tn in 2005.

Twenty-four toll road projects in the US have involved PPP-type arrangements, out of a total of 235 projects implemented since 1992. PPP approaches are being considered for another 24 toll road projects, according to a study published by the US Federal Highway Administration.

407 ETR issued $500m of new senior notes due 2012 and will retire $400m of senior bonds due this year. The issuance indicates toll road operators' ability to refinance their assets despite a difficult credit environment and softening traffic figures tied to the overall economic slowdown.