NSW Ports Finance Co. Pty. Ltd. Rated 'BBB', Stable Outlook

SYDNEY (Standard&Poor's) Dec. 5, 2014--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services assigned its 'BBB' issuer credit rating to NSW Ports Finance Co. Pty. Ltd. (NSWPF), the financing arm of the NSW Ports group of companies, the holder of a long leasehold over the ports of Botany and Kembla in the Australian State of New South Wales. The outlook on the rating is stable. Our rating on NSWPF primarily reflects our view that the combination of Port Botany and Port Kembla, which we consider as being a single port despite being in two different locations, has a strong and entrenched position in the New South Wales market, which we view as unlikely to be challenged in the medium term given remaining

...SYDNEY (Standard & Poor's) Dec. 5, 2014--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services assigned its '###' issuer credit rating to NSW Ports Finance Co. Pty. Ltd. (NSWPF), the financing arm of the NSW Ports group of companies, the holder of a long leasehold over the ports of Botany and Kembla in the Australian State of New South Wales. The outlook on the rating is stable. Our rating on NSWPF primarily reflects our view that the combination of Port Botany and Port Kembla, which we consider as being a single port despite being in two different locations, has a strong and entrenched position in the New South Wales market, which we view as unlikely to be challenged in the medium term given remaining capacity and high barriers to entry. We do not view Newcastle, the only other port of significant size in the Sydney basin, as being a viable competitor in the container market, given its current very low market share and its focus on coal export--a segment of the overall shipping market that represents only...

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