Owner of the Port of Liverpool secures £50m investment from pension fund insurer that will finance major infrastructure projects including a new £25m warehouse complex on the Mersey. Tony McDonough reports

Port of Liverpool owner Peel Ports has secured £50m of investment from London-based PIC (Pension Insurance Corporation), an insurer of defined benefit pension schemes.

This takes PIC’s investment in Peel Ports to £83m after putting £33m into the business in 2023. This latest cash injection will be used to fund major infrastructure projects across its ports estate.

These include £25m to complete the new Alexandra warehouse complex at the Port of Liverpool, two £25m ship-to-shore cranes at the Port of Greenock in Scotland and £30m for a new roll-on-roll-off berth facility at the Port of London Medway.

PIC says its ability to offer a 12-year financing package, in a floating rate format, provides the Peel Ports with the “additional flexibility” it needs to fund large infrastructure investments. 

Dr Vladan Martinovic, senior debt origination manager at PIC, said: “The diversity of cargo transited, their varied customer base, long-term customer contracts, and ability to adapt their product offering makes the UK ports sector resilient through business cycles and therefore an attractive asset for a buy-to-hold investor like PIC. 

“Regular, secure, long-term cashflows are a good match for PIC’s pension payments stretching out decades into the future. We are delighted to be able to support Peel Ports and complete an additional financing that meets their treasury needs.”

PIC investments total more than £47bn and the company looks after the interests of more than 348,000 policyholders.

In January Peel Ports Group reported a sharp fall in annual pre-tax profits and slightly lower revenues amid the “continuing weakness of global container markets”.

However, shareholders at the group, the second-biggest port operator in the UK, shared dividends of £153.9m, up from £138.9m in the previous year. There was also a further final dividend of £74.5m.

In accounts filed on Companies House for the 12 months to March 31, 2024, the company said revenues fell from £696.3m to £693.7m. Pre-tax profits were £141.6m, significantly lower than the £397.3m reported a year earlier.

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Major shareholders in the group are the billionaire Whittaker Family. They own a 68% stake in Peel Group which has a 37.6% of Peel Ports, which operates ports in Liverpool, Heysham, Medway, Clydeport, Great Yarmouth and Dublin.

Its assets also include Manchester Ship Canal, where it offers bulk solid cargo handling at Runcorn and Ellesmere Port. It also has a short sea shipping line and owns BG Freight Line, which provides short sea container services.