AA2000 acknowledges Ogden share transfer plans

Argentine airport concessionaire Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 (AA2000) has knowledge that Ogden Corporation has asked airports regulator Orsna authorization to transfer its 28% stake in AA2000 to Corporacion America Sudamericana, the concessionaire said in a statement to Buenos Aires' stock exchange. AA2000 operates 32 airports in Argentina and is formed by Corporacion America Sudamericana (35%), Societa Per Azioni Esercizi Aeroportuali (28%), Simest Spa (8%), Ogden Corporation (28%), and RIVA (1%). Its 30-year concession began in 1998. However, Orsna has not ruled on the Ogden request, in light of local press reports that Ogden had sold its stake to Corporacion America Sudamericana for US$30mn. AA2000 posted a 32.8mn peso (US$11.4mn) net loss in the first nine months, versus a 10.3mn net profit in the same period last year. For the period, AA2000 posted a 76.9mn peso operating loss due to continued high operating costs and an increase in administrative costs, as well as a 23.1% drop in sales to 233mn pesos. According to AA2000, they expect a gradual recovery in passenger traffic as the Argentine economy recovers, albeit with reduced plane traffic due to reduced frequency and smaller fleets, while cargo traffic is expected to fall due to increased costs and an important fall in imports. In October, President Nestor Kirchner inked a decree that suspended former President Eduardo Duhalde's decree to end contract renegotiations with AA2000. Under former President Duhalde's decree - one of his last actions before handing over to Kirchner on May 25 - AA2000's annual canon to the government was cut by more than half.