Moody's подтвердило рейтинговые оценки АО "Национальная компания "КазМунайГаз" (Казахстан)

/Moody's Investors Service, Москва, 16.04.10, перевод и заголовок KASE/ - Международное рейтинговое агентство Moody's Investors Service сегодня подтвердило рейтинг эмитента на уровне "Baa2" АО "Национальная компания "КазМунайГаз", оставив прогноз "Негативным". Сегодня Moody's также присвоило предварительный рейтинг эмитента для старшего необеспеченного долга на уровне (P) "Baa2" с "Негативным" прогнозом для выпуска нот, который будет осуществлен в рамках программы выпуска глобальных среднесрочных нот. Общая сумма программы недавно была увеличена до 7,5 миллиардов долларов США и будет выпущена компанией KazMunaiGaz Finance Sub B.V. ("Эмитент"), 100%-процентным дочерним предприятием АО "Национальная компания "КазМунайГаз", где последнее будет выступать в качестве гаранта выпуска нот. Обязательства гаранта в отношении данных нот будут, по крайней мере, равны другим обязательствам для всех старших необеспеченных обязательств и обязательств с преимущественным правом требования, которые несет гарант. Таким образом, держатели нот будут полагаться лишь на кредитный профиль АО "Национальная компания "КазМунайГаз" в отношении обслуживания и выплаты долга. Ожидается, что средства, которые будут привлечены от выпуска, будут предоставлены Эмитентом АО "Национальная компания "КазМунайГаз", главным образом, для рефинансирования существующей задолженности и фондирования доли компании в капитальных вложениях в разработке Кашаганского месторождения. Ниже приводится оригинальный текст сообщения Moody's на английском языке. Rating Action: Moody's affirms KazMunayGas' Baa2 rating with negative outlook (P)Baa2 assigned to Eurobond issue under GMTN programme Moscow, April 16, 2010 - Moody's Investors Service has today affirmed the Baa2 issuer rating for JSC National Company KazMunayGas ("KMG NC") and is maintaining a negative outlook. Today Moody's also assigned a provisional senior unsecured issuer rating of (P)Baa2 with a negative outlook to a note issue, which will be executed within the framework of a Global Medium Term Note Programme. The total amount of the programme has recently been extended to USD7.5 billion and will be issued by KazMunaiGaz Finance Sub B.V. (the "Issuer"), a 100%-owned subsidiary of JSC National Company KazMunayGas ("KMG NC"), with the latter acting as a Guarantor for the Notes. The obligations of the Guarantor will rank at least pari passu with all senior unsecured and unsubordinated obligations of the Guarantor. Therefore, noteholders will rely solely on KMG NC's credit profile to service and repay the debt. The proceeds raised from the Notes issue are expected to be on-lent by the Issuer to KMG NC group with the main purpose of refinancing existing indebtedness and to fund the company's share in CAPEX of the Kashagan project. Upon a conclusive review of the transaction and associated documentation, Moody's will assign a definitive rating to the Notes. A definitive rating may differ from a provisional rating. Having analysed the KMG NC group's financial and operational performance for 2009, Moody's continues to believe that the negative outlook on the issuer rating is appropriate, despite the recent stabilisation of the outlook on the sovereign rating of Kazakhstan by Moody's, which is one of the key factors driving the KMG NC rating. The negative outlook is primarily driven by the weakened stand-alone profile of the KMG group, which has been negatively impacted by the weak macroeconomic conditions in 2009 and the resulting slump in oil prices, refining margins and demand for hydrocarbons globally - factors that are key drivers of the company's business model. KMG NC's financial metrics on an adjusted basis - RCF/Net Debt and Debt/EBITDA in particular - have weakened materially in 2009 compared to 2008, due to the increase in debt levels coupled with a reduction in profitability and operating cash flow for the year. With the 2009 adjusted RCF/Net debt ratio moving closer to the 30% threshold set by Moody's for the current rating, the rating agency cautions that any further weakening of the ratio could put pressure on the rating, which is currently supported by the company's robust historic results. As of the end of 2009, the company also had limited headroom with respect to various financial covenants, and had to renegotiate some covenants during 2009 at the subsidiaries' level. KMG NC's financial projections for 2010 indicate an improvement in financial metrics, with operating cash flow generation being fuelled by the oil price recovery and expectations of a pick-up in refining margins in Europe which would primarily benefit Rompetrol's operations. That said, the group expects to direct around USD4.0 billion to its capex programme in 2010, nearly one third of which will be used to fund capex on the Kashagan project. Moody's outlook on the ratings therefore factors in (1) the company's aggressive acquisition strategy and large-scale investment projects that need to be funded; (2) its leveraged capitalisation structure; and also (3) the liquidity risk related to the group's ability to manage its sizable cash resources given the weak state of the Kazakh banking system and inability to freely move funds within the group, which in turn might impair the group's ability to meet certain financial covenants. Moody's will be closely monitoring the group's performance over the next 12-18 months. The rating agency cautions that the company will need a flawless execution of its business plan for 2010 and 2011 if it is to achieve its leverage target of 2.5x on a Total Consolidated Debt / Consolidated EBITDA basis, as well as improve the Adj. RCF/Net debt to ca 40% by the end of 2010 as currently anticipated. Moody's also expects the ratio of Adj. Debt/Total capitalisation to remain below the 50% threshold. An improvement in financial metrics should be accompanied by a prudent capex policy and a good track record of delivering key projects on time and without material cost overruns. Good liquidity management - to be illustrated by the group's ability to access its cash resources in a timely manner, generate sufficient cash to meet growing capex needs and raise necessary funding for the implementation of key projects - is another critical factor for the rating. Moody's also believes that KMG NC currently has very limited capacity for material acquisitions. Therefore, any step-up in M&A activity unsupported by an adequate stream of incremental cash flows will put pressure on the rating. In conjunction with the affirmation of the rating, Moody's also notes that the high support and medium dependence assumptions currently embedded in the ratings remain unchanged. State support for KMG NC group has been validated in 2009 through the provision of ca. USD2 billion of funding to support liquidity and allow the company to acquire the Pavlodar refinery. Moody's regards KMG NC as a government-related issuer (GRI) and the ratings therefore incorporate uplift from KMG's baseline credit assessment of 12 (on a scale of 1 to 21 and equivalent to a Ba2 rating), accounting for high implied state support and the company's medium dependence. The last rating action on KMG NC was implemented on 16 July 2009 when Moody's assigned a (P)Baa2 rating to the company's previous Notes issue. The principal methodology used in this rating action is the Application of Joint Default Analysis to Government Related Issuers, April 2005, which can be found at moodys.com in the Rating Methodologies sub-directory under the Research & Ratings tab. Other methodologies and factors that may have been considered in the process of rating this issuer can also be found in the Rating Methodologies sub-directory on Moody's website. Headquartered in Astana, Kazakhstan, KMG NC is a wholly-state-owned (through the SamrukKazyna holding company) vertically integrated oil and gas operator with core operations in exploration and production, refining, domestic oil and gas transportation, and marketing and trading of oil and petroleum products sectors. In 2009 the company generated around USD10.8 billion in revenues and EBIT of USD3.3billion. Moscow Victoria Maisuradze Vice President - Senior Analyst Corporate Finance Group Moody's Eastern Europe LLC Telephone: +7 495 228 6060 Facsimile: +7 495 228 6091 London David G. Staples Managing Director Corporate Finance Group Moody's Investors Service Ltd. JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456 SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454 [2010-04-19]