A Government Development Bank of Puerto Rico spokesman Wednesday denied a report that the Puerto Rico Ports Authority planned to sell a bond by the end of June.
El Vocero de Puerto Rico newspaper reported earlier that the authority plans to sell $430 million in bonds to refinance some non-bond debt. Neither the director nor the deputy director was available to comment to The Bond Buyer.
The authority, which has 12 maritime ports and 10 airports, has sold few bonds since the 1990s. The maritime ports are for both passenger and commercial uses.
In 2011 it sold two bonds using the Puerto Rico Infrastructure Financing Authority as a conduit. The series 2011B and 2011C revenue bonds are rated BB by Standard & Poor's and Ba2 by Moody's Investors Service based on a letter of credit provided for them by the Government Development Bank of Puerto Rico.
None of the three major ratings agencies have ratings on the ports authority.
In early 2013 the Puerto Rico government approved the ports authority leasing the island's main airport to Aerostar Airport Holdings LLC for 40 years. In exchange, the authority got a $615 million up-front payment. It will also get additional payments over the course of the remainder of the lease.
Prior to leasing the airport the ports authority had nearly $1 billion in long-term debt.
In July Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla cited the authority's lease of the airport as an example of his administration's efforts to make the island's public corporations self-sufficient.
