COSCO is seeking to invest in one of Hamburg's container terminals (COSCO file photo)

PublishedJan 6, 2023 12:13 PM by The Maritime Executive

Officials at the port of Hamburg said that they are close to finalizing an agreement in the controversial deal for COSCO Shipping Ports (CSPL) to invest in one of Hamburgs large container terminals. The investment agreement announced in September 2021 has faced opposition from members of the German government as part of the backlash to Chinas worldwide investments.

Responding to a mandatory update filing made by COSCO to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Hamburger Hafen und Logistik (HHLA) said that they believed they were close to finalizing the agreement for the investment from COSCO into the Container Terminal Tollerort. HHLA has been promoting the transaction saying it would make Tollerort the preferred terminal for Asian shipments coming to the region and strengthen Hamburgs position as a logistics hub in the North Sea and Baltic Sea regions.

We can confirm constructive talks between HHLA, CSPL, and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, the company said in a press release. It has been possible to agree on concrete conditions for CSPL's participation in HHLA Container Terminal Tollerort. HHLA and CSPL are currently in talks to clarify the final details and are aiming to finalize the transaction soon.

COSCO in its regulatory filing noted the passing of an extended long stop date on December 31, saying that the parties have been working towards the satisfaction of the non-objection condition and completion of the transaction. As at the date of this announcement, the parties are still considering, and discussing with the Ministry in relation to the conditions, the filing noted.

COSCO announced its intentions to purchase a 35 percent stake in Tollerort in September 2021. As the investment is coming from a non-EU company, it required approval by the German government under investment law, but in the fall of 2022, it emerged that members of the German government were opposing the transaction.

HHLA emphasized that under the terms of the agreement, COSCO was only becoming an investor and that control of the terminal would not be transferred. They highlighted that HHLA would retain sole control over all major decisions and that COSCO would not receive any exclusive rights to Tollerort.

The cooperation between HHLA and COSCO creates no one-sided dependencies, the company asserted last fall. Quite the opposite, it strengthens supply chains, secures jobs, and promotes value creation in Germany.

The government set initial conditions lowering the shareholding COSCO would acquire to less than 25 percent. It is believed that there were some further conditions but the companies agreed not to disclose the full terms of the agreement.

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Hamburg is Close to Finalizing Terms for COSCO's Terminal ... - The Maritime Executive

Valuations for IT sector have turned fairer post the correction. However, earnings downgrade risk remains high given the challenging global backdrop, feels Vinay Joseph, Head, Investment Products and Strategy at Standard Chartered Wealth India.

His investment tips for 2023 - (i) Secure your yield via relative yield opportunities in bonds and large-cap equities (ii) Allocate to long-term value to structural themes in financials, domestic cyclicals and the investment-led themes (iii) Fortify portfolios against surprises via defensive assets and (iv) Expand beyond the traditional via alternative strategies

Edited excerpts:

Q. Given the predictions of a mild recession, what is your outlook for the market? Any levels you are looking at for Nifty, Sensex?

Given the challenging macro backdrop, we have a neutral stance on Indian equities as stretched valuation premium, both absolute and relative to major peers, is counterbalanced by robust domestic growth and resilient earnings growth expectations. Within equities, we are overweight on large-cap equities given relatively better macro fundamentals and a greater margin of safety in terms of earnings and valuation compared to mid-cap and small-cap equities. We are overweight domestic sectors given a weak global macroeconomic backdrop and greater earnings resilience.

Q. Is IT sector an opportunity now or is there more pain expected?.

We are neutral on the IT sector as valuations have turned fairer post the correction. However, earnings downgrade risk remains high given the challenging global backdrop.

Q. It is advisable to have a diversified stock portfolio. What are the defensive sector(s) where one can look at in 2023?

We believe investors should be prepared for downside surprises given the challenging global macro backdrop. Further, Indian markets have significantly outperformed its peers, indicating a very low margin of safety. Thus, in our view maintaining a defensive portfolio allocation through cash, gold and adding a defensive tilt among equity sector positioning is a prudent approach to ride out any unexpected jump in volatility.

Q. Bank Nifty has delivered over 21% return in 2022. What levels you believe Bank Nifty may hit by end of the current fiscal.

Financials is a key overweight sector. Economic growth recovery has driven a broad-based uptick in credit growth. In addition, healthy corporate balance sheets, improvement in net interest margins and higher loan disbursal volumes are likely to support the sectors profitability in 2023. Higher interest rates are an additional tailwind for the sector supporting yields and spreads. The sector trades cheaper than the market with superior growth compared to other major sectors.

Q. What are the themes expected to work on Dalal Street ahead of Budget 2023?.

We believe it will be prudent to follow a SAFE investment strategy for 2023 : (i) Secure your yield via relative yield opportunities in bonds and large-cap equities (ii) Allocate to long-term value to structural themes in financials, domestic cyclicals and the investment-led themes (iii) Fortify portfolios against surprises via defensive assets and (iv) Expand beyond the traditional via alternative strategies.

Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint.

Read more from the original source:
Four investment strategies that may work in 2023 amid uncertainties | Mint - Mint

Technology accelerates the growth of many industries, and financial services is no exception. In the past few decades, retail investors have gained incredible access to low-cost, high-quality financial services via a multitude of platforms.

Check Out:Why Buying Property in These Vacation Destinations Could Be a Great InvestmentSee:5 Things You Must Do When Your Savings Reach $50,000

The fastest growth in recent years has been in the development of money-oriented apps, which allow customers to create and manage budgets, buy and sell investments, track their financial status and even file their taxes all from the screen on a smartphone. For 2023, heres a variety of money apps that can best help you manage your investments, depending on your specific needs.

Acorns was one of the first investment-oriented apps, and it pioneered the idea of rounding up everyday purchases and using that money to buy investments. It has since progressed to offering more advanced features.

For $3 per month, you can get an all-in-one account package that includes investment, retirement and checking accounts, a metal debit card and various educational tools. An upgrade to $5 per month allows for family accounts that can also include your kids.

Personal Capital is a digital financial management app that offers two types of comprehensive services. The free version allows users to input all of their account information from various institutions so its all visible at one time on the apps dashboard.

Along with this organization, Personal Capital also offers planning and analytics tools. For those willing to pay a tiered, annual fee ranging from 0.49% to 0.89% of assets and with at least $100,000 to invest Personal Capital kicks into high gear, offering everything from professionally managed portfolios to teams of dedicated financial advisors, and even access to private equity.

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If youre looking for robo-advisory services, Betterment, as one of the very first providers, is one of the top options in the space. It also still charges just 0.25% for its basic robo-advisory package, with no minimum.

However, the Betterment app now provides a wider range of financial options, from a high-yield savings account to crypto trading and a checking account. For an additional 0.15% per year, you can also gain access to CFP professionals for one-on-one advice.

Marcus is a relatively new entrant in the app-based consumer financial space, but its backed by investment banking giant Goldman Sachs and already a major player. In addition to its easy, online access to high-yielding savings accounts and CDs, the firm offers Marcus Invest, providing customers with portfolios chosen by Goldman Sachs experts for 0.25% per year, with a $5 minimum.

There has been talk of Marcus expanding its product line to include checking accounts and other offerings, but even until then, the app is noteworthy for its low-cost, high-yield products.

Mint has become synonymous with budgeting apps, as it was one of the first in the space. And, according to no less than the Wall Street Journal, it remains the best.

Mint has earned that endorsement through its free suite of user-friendly budgeting tools. Mint keeps all your accounts in one place for easy access and understanding of your cash flow. The app provides trackers for budgets, bill payments and investments, and it offers free access to your credit score.

The premium service, which costs $4.99/month and is only currently available for iOS users, offers a host of additional features. One of the most notable is its subscription management service that lets you see all that youre paying for monthly and helps make it easier for you to cancel. Premium services also include advanced graphing and visualization services and an ad-free experience.

M1 Finance represents the next evolution in financial services apps, offering both traditional robo-advisory accounts and the ability for investors to pick and choose their own individual investments. Investors can construct entire portfolios of fractional shares while paying no commission, rebalancing at will.

Basic accounts only have access to one trading window per day, but this restriction may actually help customers become long-term investors rather than short-term traders. In addition to its investment options, M1 Finance also offers a high-yield checking account, a credit card, and loans through its M1 Plus service, which costs $125 per year.

More From GOBankingRates

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6 Best Money Apps To Help You Manage Your Investments in 2023 - GOBankingRates

Most investors would be happy to more than double their money in an investment in less than three years' time. If it were easy to do this, however, everyone would be. That said, those that bought ExxonMobil (XOM 1.21%) in April 2020 have seen a massive stock gain. Here's why so many people overlooked the opportunity.

A $10,000 investment in energy giant Exxon's stock at the start of April 2020 would be worth around $28,000 today. In percentage terms, the shares have risen more than 180%. It's just the start of 2023, so the holding period here is a few months shy of three years. If you look past the meteoric meme stock price rises of recent years (which have largely proven to be unsustainable), that kind of gain in just three years is simply incredible!

Image source: Getty Images.

Stepping in to buy in April 2020, however, would have required almost Herculean strength, and certainly an emotional fortitude that most investors lack. That's because April was just about the worst point of the coronavirus pandemic-driven bear market. It seems like a lifetime ago now, but countries around the world were effectively shutting down their economies in an effort to slow the spread of what was, at the time, a novel illness with no effective treatments.

Demand for oil and natural gas fell dramatically and pushed energy prices sharply lower. At one point West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, a key U.S. energy benchmark, fell below zero. This was a brief moment in time, but think about what a negative price means in the energy sector -- oil drillers were basically paying customers to take oil off their hands. Investing in an energy company, even one as well known as Exxon, when the energy market was facing such a serious headwind would not have been easy.

Here's the thing, though, oil and natural gas are notoriously cyclical commodities. The 2020 price plunge was, perhaps, shocking for unique reasons, but it wasn't actually far off cyclical trends. Simply put, swift and dramatic price moves are the norm, not the exception, in the energy sector. With an investment-grade-rated balance sheet, Exxon was probably one of the energy industry companies best positioned to withstand the blow.

That's not an accident. Exxon, which has been around in some form for more than 100 years, has seen tough cycles before. And it is ready, which it again proved in 2020. One key indication of this is the fact that Exxon has increased its dividend for 40 consecutive years despite the inherent industry ups and downs it has to deal with. The story, again, goes back to the company's balance sheet.

XOM Financial Debt to Equity (Quarterly) data by YCharts

Just prior to the pandemic, Exxon's debt-to-equity ratio was well below 0.20 times. That's a very modest figure for any company. However, when the pandemic hit and energy prices plunged, management followed a tried and true playbook. It took on debt, more than doubling its debt-to-equity ratio. Even at the peak level, Exxon's leverage wasn't overbearing, but it did rise very quickly. The cash raised allowed the company to continue to pay its dividend and support its business, including the capital spending needed to support long-term production levels.

XOM Total Long Term Debt (Quarterly) data by YCharts

Fast forward to today. Exxon's debt-to-equity ratio is again well below 0.20 times. That's because oil prices have rebounded strongly from their lows. Exxon's stock price has rebounded along with energy prices, as have its profits. And it is using today's profits to pay down the debt it took on to help it muddle through the industry downturn.

If the only thing you see is the huge price gain that Exxon's stock has experienced since April 2020, you are missing the real story. Exxon did what it always does during the hard times; it used its balance sheet as a shield to protect itself and income investors. If you had known this was simply the same old successful playbook being used again, you might have had the fortitude to take a contrarian stance.

In the end, buying Exxon's stock while Wall Street was busy throwing the baby out with the bathwater (again) proved to be a huge financial win for investors who took the time to understand history.

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If You Invested $10,000 in ExxonMobil in April 2020, This Is How ... - The Motley Fool

Big pharma companies have become more measured in their risk taking, with mergers and acquisitions gradually giving way to joint ventures and partnerships.

As COVID-19 wreaked havoc on our markets, biotech appeared to be an outlier, not just weathering the storm, but emerging stronger than ever with record investments and valuations. Then reality struck and assets lingered in early stages.

Commercialized products underperformed, valuations tumbled, and a new normal arrived. This presented a paradox to small and midsize companies in how to deliver not just promising innovations, but also low-risk investment options to an increasingly wary market.

Even before the pandemic, small to midsize biotechs were gaining ground, thanks in part to their nimbler adoption of new technologies, faster paced innovation, and partnerships with larger companies hoping to overcome internal stagnation and offset impending patent expirations.

EY reports that new molecular entity (NME) approvals attributed to small biotechs with revenues less than $1 billion were approximately 10% in 2017, which reached 30% by 2021. McKinsey & Company reports the pace of innovation has also been increasing, with assets passing through early phase trials up to 50% faster than before, though the development of later stage assets has remained flat.

The eventual market downturn meant that biotechs must either travel the unfamiliar path toward commercialization or prove their worth to increasingly trepidatious investors. Today, big pharmas are more measured in their risk taking, with mergers and acquisitions gradually giving way to joint ventures and partnerships.

Investors are less willing to jump in early, often delaying their moves until after phase 2 or 3 trials, demanding data-backed validation, and setting strict milestones. Biotechs with early phase assets or platforms no longer have an easy path to IPO, and instead face growing demand to differentiate themselves in a sea of similar start-ups.

Many companies are waiting out the downturn, staying private for as long as possible while stretching budgets and streamlining operations. Some are even tempering R&D efforts or joining scores of competitors focused on indications with well-validated assays and end pointsa strategy that some fear could stifle innovation in the long-run.

For many biotechs, delivering rapid innovation with good returns seems like an insurmountable challenge when faced with myriad other challenges, such as fewer late-stage assets, heightened consumer expectations, new pricing legislation, and increased cyber threats. To deliver on the markets demands, companies must adjust their strategic priorities.

Deloitte recently reported on the key priorities for biopharmas to stay competitive. Aside from expanding global reach, the top priorities named include strengthening R&D and improving the use of digital and IT technologies.

Invest in a scalable R&D platform

As biotechs grow, the systems that sufficed for small teams typically dont scale well and instead start hindering progress. Companies face a choice of either building an end-to-end cheminformatics discovery platform themselves or finding a partner whose open platform can help them seamlessly integrate the diverse applications, workflows, and data they need.

Adopting a flexible, scalable R&D platform reduces the onus of integrating internal systems, such as those used for study capture, compound registration, inventory management, assay design, and data management. Companies can then focus their time, money, and expertise on what matters mostthe science that will help them make better therapies faster and increase their chances of success.

Support transformational change

Biotechs must analyze their R&D workflows and identify changes that will not just impact a few teams processes, but will also improve outcomes across their organizations. For many drug-discovery companies, a key priority should be investing in technology that frees decision-makers to focus on science instead of cumbersome processes.

Unfortunately, several obstacles often stand in the way of this goal, including disconnected R&D systems, workflow complexity, compromised data value, high failure rates in small molecule drug discovery, and structural complexity and diversification in biologics discovery. Companies can overcome these obstacles by investing in tools that let them streamline end-to-end workflows, accelerate research, facilitate collaboration, and improve decision-making.

Creating a strong data foundation

Big data have become synonymous with big possibilities. Companies across industries are looking to both gain competitive advantages and generate revenues.

Theyre also pouring tens of millions of dollars into AI initiatives each year. Unfortunately, many biopharmas face a harsh realitytheir data are ill-suited for utilization in AI due to a variety of reasons, such poor access, lack of standardization, inefficient annotation, questionable integrity, and limited traceability.

In fact, a recent survey of biopharma and medtech companies conducted by Deloitte found that nearly 30% of life science leaders admit that data struggles negatively impact their AI initiatives. Biotechs must create a strong data foundation to benefit from AI and machine learning, which means capturing clean and trustworthy research data, removing data silos, and provisioning model quality data.

Tackling regulatory readiness

An increasingly common regulatory issue facing leaders is data integrity, which can greatly impact a drugs safety, efficacy, and quality. Such violations have become more common as labs shift from paper to electronic record keeping, with the FDA releasing industry guidance on the matter.

Although egregious offenses such as falsifying data make headlines, the FDAs transparent sharing of warning letters highlights many less headline-grabbing offenses, such as data loss, missing metadata, uninvestigated sample elimination or reprocessing, security issues, and inadequate audits. Luckily, labs can choose solutions that help mitigate the risk of violations, such as by automatically recording experiment details and audit trails, requiring signatures, and restricting data manipulation or deletion.

Upholding the integrity and security of data generated throughout a products entire lifecycle better ensures regulatory readiness, while also enabling that product to become more compelling to investors. Although biotechs face new challenges, history shows the industry has always bounced back.

McKinsey projects the market will rebound if companies carefully focus their talent and budgets without losing sight of the fundamentals, which increases regulatory clarity and commercial viability for innovative therapies addressing unmet needs.

About the Author

Haydn Boehm is director of Product Marketing at Dotmatics, a leader in R&D scientific software connecting science, data, and decision-making. Its enterprise R&D platform and scientists favorite applications drive efficiency and accelerate innovation.

See more here:
Overcoming the Biotech Investment Paradox - Pharmacy Times

There are a lot of reasons an investor might be interested in putting their money into agriculture. For one, it may seem like a safe bet since during a recession, people may cut back on haircuts or hold off on getting their car repaired but nobody stops purchasing food.

You may also simply be interested in the agriculture industry or perhaps youve always romanticized the idea of farming. If you want to raise money by helping farmers raise crops, then keep reading.Before you invest in anything, its always prudent to first talk to a financial advisor who can look at your portfolio and help you manage any risk.

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Q4 2022 hedge fund letters, conferences and more

This Energy Fund Generated Solid Results In The First 11 Months Of 2022

Statar Capital lost 2% for November, bringing its return for the first 11 months of 2022 to 12.22%. The energy-focused hedge fund had $3 billion in assets under management at the end of November and has generated a total net return of 310.8% since September 2018. In their November letter to investors, which was obtained Read More

Finding a qualified financial advisor doesn't have to be hard. SmartAsset's free tool matches you with up to 3 fiduciary financial advisors in your area in 5 minutes.

Each advisor has been vetted by SmartAsset and is held to a fiduciary standard to act in your best interests.

If you're ready to be matched with local advisors that can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.

Any investment involves some level of jeopardy, but the agriculture industry certainly has some risks built into the system. People make profits off farming, to be sure, but everything from climate change to global markets can affect the price of crops and cattle and create a bad financial year for farmers and investors alike.

But if you want ideas on how to invest in agriculture and minimize your risk while doing it, consider looking into the following types of investments.

Investing in agriculture can be risky but it can also be rewarding for your portfolio. If youre looking to limit the amount of risk that you take while enjoying agriculture-related investments in your portfolio, consider keeping these three rules in mind:

Unless youre investing in a family member who you want to help and believe in, you probably wouldnt want to invest in one farm and farmer. Thats why Farm REITs exist, for instance. Investing in agriculture is far less risky when you invest in the agriculture industry as a whole as opposed to one individual, who could face financial ruin, such as bankruptcy.

Keep in mind that investing in agriculture is a useful hedge against inflation. Inflation can be damaging to investments, because of the dollar losing value, but food prices tend to lead the pack when it comes to expenses rising.

Real estate is often considered a good hedge against inflation and so if your investment includes a lot of successful farms, with a lot of land and success selling its crops, you may, in a sense, have two hedges against inflation.

As the population grows, so does the demand for agriculture. As noted earlier, everybody needs to eat. In other words, while there is a lot of risk to being a farmer and investing in one farmer, this is a growing industry that isnt likely to slow down anytime soon. The population continues to increase in size year over year so there is no shortage of opportunity.

If youre looking to invest in something that can bring you wealthand in an arguably good cause any industry that feeds hungry people cant be all bad agriculture is certainly something that any investor should consider.

As with any investment, agriculture has its risks. Droughts can kill crops. Natural disasters, like hurricanes, can as well. Tastes change and what may be a popular crop one year may be less in favor of the next. But eating well never goes out of style and so if you invest shrewdly, its hard to see how youll end up with a bad case of indigestion.

The post How To Invest In Agriculture appeared first on SmartAsset Blog.

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How To Invest In Agriculture - ValueWalk

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged the team behind Coindeal, a $45 million fraudulent crypto investment scheme. The regulator explained that the defendants falsely claimed that Coindeal would generate investment returns of more than 500,000 times for investors.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced Wednesday that it has charged the creator of crypto investment scheme Coindeal and seven others in connection with the $45 million fraud.

Describing Coindeal as a brazen and far-reaching unregistered offering fraud conducted between at least 2018 and 2022, the securities regulator detailed:

Coindeal raised more than $45 million from sales of unregistered securities to tens of thousands of investors worldwide.

The SEC explained that creator Neil Chandran and promoters Garry Davidson, Michael Glaspie, Amy Mossel, and Linda Knott falsely claimed that investors could generate extravagant returns by investing in a blockchain technology called Coindeal that would be sold for trillions of dollars to a group of prominent and wealthy buyers.

However, the regulator said no Coindeal sale ever occurred and no distributions were made to investors. The defendants collectively misappropriated millions of dollars of investor funds for personal use, and Chandran used investor funds to purchase items such as cars, real estate, and a boat, the SEC wrote.

The securities watchdog also charged AEO Publishing Inc., Banner Co-Op Inc., and Bannersgo LLC for their involvement in the fraudulent crypto investment scheme.

Daniel Gregus, director of the SECs Chicago Regional Office, said:

We allege the defendants falsely claimed access to valuable blockchain technology and that the imminent sale of the technology would generate investment returns of more than 500,000 times for investors.

The director added: As alleged in our complaint, in reality, this was all just an elaborate scheme where the defendants enriched themselves while defrauding tens of thousands of retail investors.

In June last year, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted Chandran on three counts of wire fraud and two counts of monetary transaction in unlawful proceeds in connection with the Coindeal crypto fraud scheme.

What do you think about the SECs action against Coindeal? Let us know in the comments section below.

A student of Austrian Economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open-source systems, network effects and the intersection between economics and cryptography.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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SEC Charges Team Behind Coindeal Crypto Fraud That Promised ... - Bitcoin News

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 06, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Connect Invest, an online investment company, increased all of the interest rates today on its short-note offerings following the recent Fed rate hike to provide investors with an opportunity to earn significant returns with short-term commitments and low investment minimums, starting at $500. Short notes allow investors to commit their money for short commitments with defined exit dates.

While interest rates have risen on savings and CD accounts, they continue to have a negative real yield as theU.S. inflation rate sits at 7.11%. According to theFederal Deposit Insurance Corp., the averagenational deposit rate for savings accounts is 0.3%, while the average for 24-month CD accounts is 1.06%.

Connect Invest offers an alternative investment vehicle that mitigates both market volatility and uncertainty while providing residual income through the form of monthly interest payments. "We view this uncertain time in the economy as an opportunity to offer unprecedented value to our clients," said Brandon Kelly, Vice President of Marketing and Operations at Connect Invest. "We look forward to serving new investors seeking stable residual monthly income during the term of their investment."

Previously, return rates for Connect Invest short notes six-month and 12-month commitments were 5.5% and 7.25%, respectively. The new rates are now 7.5% and 8%, respectively. The 24-month short note continues to pay 9%. Funds from all short note investments are used for purchasing first-position collateralized notes of various real estate projects. With access to over $500 million in collateralized projects, Connect Invest is constantly adding projects to the portfolio for continued diversification.

To learn more about Connect Invest, visit http://www.connectinvest.com/about-us/

About Connect Invest

Connect Invest is an alternative investment platform specializing in collateralized debt through real estate short-note investments. We offer short-term investments in real estate development projects that yield high returns monthly, with zero overhead and no account or maintenance fees. Our investments are determined based on the investor's risk tolerance, investment amount, and length of term. Available to both accredited and nonaccredited investors, all funds are used to fund a variety of real estate development projects throughout the country at various stages, including acquisition, development and construction. Investments start as low as $500, terms as short as 6 months, and interest earnings ranging from 7.5% to 9%.

Contact Information: Diana Calderon Marketing Director dcalderon@connectinvest.com

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Connect Invest, the industry's leading collateralized debt investment ... - GlobeNewswire

Jan. 5Could theLincoln Airportbecome a major cargo hub?

AColoradocompany is optimistic that it can, so much so that it plans to invest tens of millions of dollars to make that happen.

TheLincoln Airport Authorityon Thursday approved an agreement withBurrell AviationofAspen, Colorado, that gives the company the right to develop about 30 acres of property on the west side of the airport with the aim of transforming it into a hub for air cargo and other aviation-related industries.

The agreement includes a 30-year ground lease with options that could extend it to as long as 50 years. The lease allows Burrell to build on airport property at the south end of what's called the west ramp.

Burrell CEOJohn Carversaid the estimated $65 million investment, which does not include the cost of the ground lease with theAirport Authority, will occur over several years.

Carver said the company plans to focus on three industries as it seeks to boost the airport's nonaviation operations: air cargo handling, cold storage and distribution.

That could mean attracting air freight companies, logistics firms, food businesses and aircraft maintenance providers.

"I think we'll find the interest here to be pretty robust," Carver said.

Facilities would be built in phases, with two or three large buildings likely. Burrell is proposing up to 210,000 square feet of space. Carver said he believes the first tenants could occupy spaces as soon as 2025. At full build-out, he estimated the development could add anywhere from 180 to 350 permanent jobs with salaries averaging $60,000 to $80,000 a year.

The Lincoln Airportis one of about 20 Burrell is working with across the country, fromAlaskatoNew England. Most of them are in smaller cities like Lincoln.

The company already has announced plans for similar developments at airports inAlbuquerque, New Mexico;Baton Rouge, Louisiana; andColorado Springs, Colorado.

Carver said Burrell looked at the more than 5,000 commercial airports in theU.S.and used a filtering process to whittle it down to a few dozen it hoped to work with.

Among the things it looked for as it seeks to take advantage of the need to serve the growing e-commerce industry was proximity to large cities, a good highway network and an airport administration that has a forward-thinking approach.

Lincoln, Carver said, "checked all of those boxes."

"The Lincoln Airportis an ideal location to add to our portfolio," he said. "It provides a strategic presence in the heartland of America, with an airport that is accessible to other major transportation modes such as interstates and rail lines."

Lincoln Airport Executive DirectorDavid Haringsaid the agreement has nothing but upside for the airport. It gets rent from the ground lease and will eventually owns any structures Burrell builds once the lease term expires.

"This is kind of an easy deal for the airport," Haring said. "The heavy lifting is being done by Burrell."

"I'm really excited not just for the airport but for the community and all ofSoutheast Nebraska," he said.

Local and state leaders had nothing but praise for the deal.

"Landing this opportunity prepares Lincoln for yet another economic takeoff," MayorLeirion Gaylor Bairdsaid in a statement. "We're proud thatBurrell Aviationidentified our community as the location for the next project and look forward to supporting their exciting development at the Lincoln Airport.

NewNebraskaGov.Jim Pillen, who took office on Thursday, called the Burrell proposal "another example of business stepping up and investing in the future ofNebraska."

"I am excited about this opportunity and the growth it will bring to Lincoln," he said in a statement.

While the Lincoln Airport took a big hit during the coronavirus pandemic, losing more than half its passenger traffic and one of its two airlines, it has been making strides over the past couple of years, especially when it comes to improving its infrastructure.

The airport is in the midst of a $55 million terminal expansion and renovation project, the first phase of which it hopes to have done this spring. That phase will add gates, consolidate passenger screening and add new amenities.

The airport also, likely in the next two or three years, will start a project to rebuild its main runway, which is one of the longest at any commercial airport in theU.S.

Thanks to an agreement brokered by Sen.Deb Fischer, theNational Guard Bureauhas agreed to chip in to help pay to keep the runway at nearly 13,000 feet long, which is important because theFederal Aviation Administration, which covers 90% of the cost of most airport capital improvements, has said it likely wouldn't pay to rebuild a runway of that length.

The length of Lincoln's runway was apparently a factor that Burrell considered in whether to invest here, a point that Fischer highlighted in a statement.

"Thanks in part to my work to secure funding for the rehabilitation of the Lincoln Airport runway, one of the world's leading cargo carriers and logistics companies is now coming toNebraska," she said.

Reach the writer at 402-473-2647 ormolberding@journalstar.com.

On Twitter @LincolnBizBuzz.

___

(c)2023 Lincoln Journal Star, Neb.

Visit Lincoln Journal Star, Neb. at http://www.journalstar.com

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Company Plans Huge Investment in Lincoln Airport with Aim of ... - Aviation Pros

Hundreds of companies pay dividends to their investors. Because of that, it can be hard to know which one to pick if you're looking to keep your portfolio holdings manageable.

Onedividend stockthat stands out from the crowded field isOneok(OKE 2.68%). Thepipeline companyoffers a unique investment opportunity amongS&P 500members. Here's what makes it so distinct.

Oneok stands out among stocks in the S&P 500:

Image source: Oneok Investors Relations Presentation.

There are around 500 companies in the S&P 500. However, only 380 have investment-grade credit ratings. That means they have the financial strength to weather an economic downturn. This characteristic could be important in 2023 if there's a recession.

Meanwhile, only 269 of those companies have largemarket capsof over $20 billion. Larger companies are more mature and stable, making them good portfolio anchors.

From that group, only 176 have high environmental, social, and governance (ESG)ratings of A or better from MSCI. In Oneok's case, it's an ESG leader with a AAA rating thanks to its strong corporate governance, lower carbon emissions, and health and safety standards. While it might seem strange to see a fossil fuel-focused company with such high environmental ratings, Oneok has helped lead the industry's efforts to reduce natural gas flaring in the Williston Basin by capturing this gas. It also provides the infrastructure to support renewable natural gas, helping prevent those methane emissions. Finally, the company aims to reduce its emissions by 30% by 2030. Because of that, it's making the energy sector much more sustainable.

From that group of sustainable, large-cap, investment-grade-rated companies, only 135 are on pace to grow their earnings per share by a 5% or greater rate over the next couple of years.

Finally, Oneok is the only company of that remaining group with a high-yielding dividend that it has never reduced. That track record of dividend stability is impressive, considering that many energy stocks have reduced their payouts in the past due to the sector's volatility.

Oneok has done more than maintain its dividend over the years. The pipeline company has steadily increased it over time. While it hasn't grown its payout every year, it has expanded it at a 13% compound rate since 2000.

The company should have the fuel to continue growing its dividend in the future. Its earnings continue to rise as it benefits from the $5 billion of expansion projects it completed in the recent past, setting it up to grow volumes and benefit from favorable commodity prices. Its earnings per share have increased by 13% over the past year. Meanwhile, the company expects its income to grow by more than 10% in 2023. Those rising earnings will supply Oneok with more money to sustain its dividend.

Further, as noted, the company has an investment-grade balance sheet. Leverage was a comfortable 3.8 times at the end of the third quarter, giving Oneok the financial capacity to invest in new expansion projects as opportunities arise while also continuing to pay its attractive dividend. The company funded nearly $900 million of capital projects through the third quarter to maintain and expand its energy infrastructure network.

Meanwhile, Oneok continues to seek new growth drivers that could give it the fuel to keep growing. For example, the company recently filed for a permit to build the Saguaro Connector Pipeline that would transport gas to the Mexican border for delivery to an export facility on that country's west coast. The company hopes to make a final investment decision on the project by the middle of 2023. Oneok has an excellent track record of completing expansion projects that help sustain and grow its dividend.

Oneok stands out among dividend stocks. It offers investors a unique blend of safety, size, sustainability, growth, and income. That compelling blend of features makes it a high-quality dividend stock that could anchor any income portfolio.

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