Ferrovial says BAA bond talks "very advanced"

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's Ferrovial (FER.MC: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday its efforts to refinance a 10 billion pound loan were "very advanced" after an earlier statement said it may not be able to start talks as soon as planned.

On Friday morning Ferrovial's UK airports arm, BAA, said it still does not have enough banks to back the already delayed asset-backed securitisation (ABS), the biggest ever attempted, but aims to complete the deal by early in the third quarter.

The news knocked its shares -- the stock closed down 5.3 percent at 53.75 euros -- but Finance Director Nicolas Villen said in a statement it was optimistic about the process.

"The process is very advanced in all areas, from the final documentation to obtaining positive ratings," Villen said.

"Although our (previous) statement contains understandable caution, we are optimistic about the solid support that we are receiving from a good number of banks, despite the current credit market, and also because bond market conditions have improved in the last few weeks," he said.

(Reporting by Ben Harding; Editing by David Cowell)