Plenty of capital one month, not nearly enough the next
Auckland International Airport and Fletcher Building both did a 180°
Auckland International Airport chief executive Carrie Hurihanganui.
Source: Auckland International Airport.
As recently as late August, at least one analyst thought Auckland International Airport would be able to fully-fund its capital spending with debt.
That was Andy Bowley at Forsyth Barr, who said in his Aug 23 note that debt is likely to rise materially through full-years 2025 and 2026.
The airport will likely breach its key Standard & Poor's credit metric from FY25 “on a forward looking basis, though S&P has historically been sympathetic to these oversteps, and an equity raise is far from certain,” Bowley said.
“We continue to assume that capex will be fully funded from debt.”
Another analyst, Jarden's Grant Lowe, in a note on the same date estimated that regulated capex in FY24 had been about $270 million below forecast and that suggested a potential FY25 underspend of about $320 million.