"Once that is out of the way they will have a bit more free time to look at us," says HKAA treasurer Alex Kam. "Our aim is to be able to make ourselves ready for that as soon as possible, but it is not set in stone how it will be done," he adds. He pointed to a low debt-to-equity ratio, at around 18% with just HK$7 billion to HK$8 billion of debt currently outstanding following a HK$50 billion (US$8 billion) investment in the new airport at Chep Lak Kok.
| HKAA: heading for international markets | ||||||
To date the HKAA has raised all of its debt in the Hong Kong dollar markets, predominantly through three syndicated loans of HK$8.2 billion, HK$4 billion and HK$6.2 billion, making it one of the largest borrowers in the territory.
The authority also has a HK$5 billion note issuance programme, managed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, under which it has so far raised HK$3 billion, giving it particularly competitive funding rates.