Americas Water IN BRIEF

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A new survey by Black & Veatch has found that over 31% of US water and wastewater utilities are considering the use of public-private partnerships.

The report also found that more than 53% have neither adopted nor considered PPPs.

  • American Water’s ongoing rate case activity has seen mixed results over the last month. The award of an annual revenue increase of $28.5 million in California was followed by a disappointing result in Indiana, as the IURC signed off on a $1.948 million annual rate adjustment at an ROE of 9.70% – a fraction of the $20.2 million requested, and well below the requested ROE of 11.50%. Meanwhile, American Water has filed for $10.6 million of annual rate relief in Tennessee, based on a WACC of 8.23%.
  • Rio de Janeiro water utility Nova Cedae is in the process of assembling an international legal team ahead of an IPO later this year which could raise in excess of $800 million. Nova Cedae’s EBITDA rose 8.5% to BRL971 million ($479 million) on gross revenues of BRL3.5 billion ($1.7 billion) last year.
  • Shares of Pall Corporation (PLL) fell by 4.3% after the company posted a weak set of Q3 results on 6th June and affirmed its full-year EPS projection at $3.10, near the lower end of the previously indicated range. Wedbush analyst David Rose immediately lowered his price target on the shares from $64.00 to $60.00, but maintained his neutral outlook. “We believe the longterm fundamentals of PLL’s business are healthy,” he wrote in a research note.
  • Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co. has bought a minority stake in Houston-based water services company Water Standard.
  • Swiss pipe manufacturer Georg Fischer has continued its acquisitive streak, agreeing to purchase Texas-based polyethylene pipe producer Independent Pipe Products Inc. IPP generates annual revenues in excess of $50 million.
  • A new report published in late May by the Climate Bonds Initiative and HSBC found that out of $174 billion of outstanding bonds identified as “fully aligned” with climate-related activities, water was the only category with zero representation.