RATING DRIVERS
Supporting Factors
- Continued strong market position in port operations and industrial real estate management in T&T enhanced by diversified product offering
- Reliable earnings stream on the industrial estate attributed to a stable tenant base, notwithstanding high rental concentration
- Comfortable financial performance in 2020 supported by adequate capitalization and debt protection metrics albeit at lower levels
Constraining Factors
- Prevailing economic conditions constrain profitability and growth
Rating Sensitivity Factors
Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to an improvement in the ratings and/or Outlook include:
- A greater than 10% y-o-y improvement in revenue for 2 consecutive years
- An improvement in profits by 40% for 2 consecutive years excluding the effects of revaluation gain
Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to a lowering of the ratings and/or Outlook include:
- A material decline of 10% in revenue and profits in 2021
- Any material Company event that can result in default/breaches of covenants
- Current ratio of <1x for a sustained period of 12-18 months
COMPANY BACKGROUND
Point Lisas Industrial Port Development Corporation (PLIPDECO) was established in 1966. The Government of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago (GoRTT) is its majority shareholder with 51%, with the other 49% being widely held by various institutional and individual investors as a listed public entity.
PLIPDECO’s two core activities are: 1) port management and operations, including cargo handling services, and 2) industrial real estate management.
Port Operations
PLIPDECO’s port operations entail handling a wide range of traffic including dry and liquid bulk, cargo containers, containerized and conventional general cargo[1] and breakbulk, servicing both the business sector and individuals. The port consists of 6 general cargo and container berths. It covers an area of approximately 23.33 hectares and has a 10-year average annualized throughput of 182,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs)[2] and 326,000 Metric Tons of breakbulk cargo per year[3].
Industrial Real Estate Management
PLIPDECO is also the owner and landlord of the 863-hectare Point Lisas Industrial Estate. It comprises 103 tenants that include petrochemical companies, steel plants, manufacturing, and service companies.
[1] Includes non-oil bulk cargo and equipment.
[2]An inexact unit of cargo capacity often used to describe the capacity of container ships and container terminals. It is based on the volume of a 20-foot-long (6.1m) intermodal container, a standard-sized metal box which can be easily transferred between different modes of transportation, such as ships, trains and trucks.
[3] For the 10-year period, 2011 to 2020.
Analytical Contacts:
Musa Abdullah
Tel: 1-868-627-8879 Ext. 233
E-mail: mabdullah@caricris.com
Anelia Oudit
Tel: 1-868-627-8879 Ext. 226
Mobile: 1-868-487-8364
E-mail: aoudit@caricris.com
Website: www.caricris.com
Email: info@caricris.com
Disclaimer: CariCRIS has taken due care and caution in compilation of data for this product. Information has been obtained by CariCRIS from sources which it considers reliable. However, CariCRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. No part of this report may be published / reproduced in any form without CariCRIS’ prior written approval. CariCRIS is also not responsible for any errors in transmission and especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to the subscribers/ users/ transmitters/ distributors of this product.