Moody’s gives top rating to ship Pfandbrief
Hamburg/Kiel, September 6, 2007 - HSH Nordbank is the first bank in the world to receive a provisional Aaa and thus the highest possible rating for its ship-cover pool from the Moody’s rating agency. The size of the cover pool, which will still be significantly increased in the years ahead, is currently about EUR 2.5 billion. It includes primarily container vessels, but also tankers and bulk-cargo freighters. In its rating statement, Moody’s pointed to HSH Nordbank’s expertise as a long-standing lender to the shipping industry.
HSH Nordbank has, with this rating, taken a crucial step closer to its goal of establishing itself as a tap issuer of ship Pfandbriefs. Launch of the first large-volume HSH ship Pfandbrief is currently being prepared. The plan is to place this soon among institutional investors.
As the world’s largest provider of ship finance with a lending volume of about EUR 30 billion in the first half of 2007, HSH Nordbank is now also incorporating its sector expertise in the asset class of ship Pfandbriefs. This is another milestone in implementing its funding strategy. The target is not least to tap new sources for the Bank’s funding. HSH Nordbank already proved its strength in proactive portfolio management back in 2004 and 2005: with its Ocean Star 2004 and Ocean Star 2005 capital-market transactions. These synthetic securitizations comprise ships loans with a volume of about USD 1.5 billion.
HSH Nordbank AG is a strong regional bank in Northern Europe with total assets of € 200 billion. Some 4,400 of the bank’s employees provide corporate and high net-worth clients around the globe with premium bank products and services. In its core region of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, it is the market leader in the corporate customer segment. HSH Nordbank is an acknowledged partner of the capital markets and international sector specialist. Its main focus is on transportation and real estate. In fact, HSH Nordbank is the world’s largest provider of ship finance and covers the entire value chain in the transportation segment. In the area of real estate, HSH Nordbank is one of the strongest banks in Germany, acting as a provider of services relating to all aspects of real estate.
For more information please visit our website at www.hsh-nordbank.com.
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