Aqua America, Inc. (NYSE:WTR) announced today that the company’s largest
subsidiary, Aqua Pennsylvania Inc., (Aqua) entered into an agreement to
issue $58 million in tax-exempt First Mortgage Bonds. The bonds are not
subject to AMT tax.
The bond issuance is a single series of bonds priced at a 5.0 percent
coupon rate with a yield of 5.23 percent maturing in 2039. The bonds
were rated by Standard and Poor’s (S&P) at AA- with a 1+ recovery
rating. Aqua received approval from the Pennsylvania Economic
Development Financing Authority for the issuance in 2008. The company
intends to close on this transaction in mid-July. The bonds were sold by
an underwriting team of Jefferies & Company, Janney Montgomery Scott,
Boenning & Scattergood and Edward Jones.
Aqua’s ability to access money at this rate is a reflection of the
company’s A+ S&P corporate credit rating, which improves its ability to
economically expand its infrastructure rebuilding program. In 2009, Aqua
expects to spend approximately $236 million on infrastructure
improvements, most of which will be funded by internally generated cash.
Aqua America Chairman and CEO Nicholas DeBenedictis said, "The strong
S&P credit rating allows the company to continue to access the capital
markets at reasonable rates and enables Aqua to contribute to the
reduction of the overall embedded cost of debt for Aqua America
companies, which is now at 5.6 percent. This has allowed us to maintain
our business model and to finance infrastructure projects that will
improve water quality and reliability, and benefit the local economy.”
Aqua America, Inc. is a publicly traded water and wastewater utility
with operating subsidiaries serving approximately three million people
in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, North Carolina, Illinois, Texas,
Florida, New Jersey, Indiana, Virginia, Maine, Missouri, and South
Carolina. Aqua America is listed on the New York Exchange under the
ticker symbol WTR. Aqua Pennsylvania is Aqua America’s largest
subsidiary and provides water and wastewater services to approximately
1.4 million people in 30 counties throughout Pennsylvania.
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, among
others, the effect of the S&P credit rating on the company’s financing,
borrowing power and capital investment program, the expected timing of
the closing of its tax-free debt issuance, the expected use of the
proceeds from the financings and the company’s projected capital
spending levels. There are important factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements including: general economic business
conditions, unfavorable weather conditions, the success of certain cost
containment initiatives, changes in regulations or regulatory treatment,
availability and the cost of capital, disruption in the credit markets,
the success of growth initiatives, and other factors discussed in our
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008,
which is on file with the SEC. We undertake no obligation to publicly
update or revise any forward-looking statement.
WTRF