Monday 1 Nov 2004
NETWORK RAIL SIGNS £20 BILLION DEBT ISSUANCE PROGRAMME
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National
Network Rail is pleased to announce that it has signed a £20 billion Debt Issuance Programme (DIP). The first bonds - a series of Eurosterling benchmark offerings – are expected to be launched in the near future. Network Rail will be meeting with debt investors during a UK roadshow commencing on 8th November.
The has been assigned credit ratings of AAA by Standard & Poors, Aaa by Moody’s and AAA by Fitch IBCA. The DIP is supported by a Financial Indemnity from the Strategic Rail Authority and a Letter of Comfort from the Secretary of State for Transport.
Barclays Capital, Citigroup, RBS and UBS have been appointed joint bookrunners for the inaugural offerings. Dresdner, HSBC, Merrill Lynch, RBC and WestLB will act as co-leads. UBS will act as Global Co-ordinator for debt issued under the programme, which will have a maximum maturity date of 2052.
The DIP benefits from a Financial Indemnity from the Strategic Rail Authority and a Letter of Comfort from the Secretary of State for Transport. The FSA have assigned a 20% risk weighting to the programme.
Fred Maroudas, Network Rail’s Director, Funding, said: “The launch of our Debt Issuance Programme marks a major milestone in the development of Network Rail’s finances. It will give us access, through a single platform, to the widest possible sources of funding including the long term capital markets. The Debt Issuance Programme will build on the success we have already achieved with of our Commercial Paper and Medium Term Notes programmes.”
Mr Maroudas continued: “The Debt Issuance Programme is very good news for Network Rail, farepayers and taxpayers. By giving Network Rail access to the widest possible sources of funding at the lowest possible cost, it will provide a stable base for us to fund our continuing programme of long term investment in the nation’s rail network.
“The Debt Issuance Programme will continue to build investor confidence in Network Rail’s strategy of benchmark, agency issuance.”
Network Rail is also taking the opportunity to extend its £4bn commercial paper programme by 12 months to June 2005.
About Network Rail
We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.
Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.
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