Singapore, August 06, 2012 -- Moody's Investors Service says the issuance of additional notes worth
USD500 million by China Petrochemical Corporation (or Sinopec Group) will
not have any impact on its Aa3 issuer rating and the Aa3 senior unsecured
rating assigned to the USD notes issued by Sinopec Group Overseas Development
(2012) Limited and guaranteed by Sinopec Group.
The ratings outlook remains stable.
The additional notes have the same terms and conditions as the USD3 billion
notes issued on 17 May 2012. The new notes will be consolidated
and form a single series with, and will rank pari passu with,
the original notes.
The company will use the proceeds of the issuance for general corporate
purposes and to fund its expansion overseas.
"The incremental debt of USD500 million is relatively small and
accounts for less than 1% of its total adjust debt of about RMB452
billion. Therefore, it will not materially increase Sinopec
Group's debt leverage," says Simon Wong, a Moody's
Vice President and Senior Analyst.
Sinopec Group's Aa3 rating takes into account its baseline credit assessment
(BCA) of 8 -- which is equivalent to the Baa1 level on Moody's global
rating scale -- and the four-notch uplift that reflects
Moody's expectation of very high support from the Chinese government
(Aa3, positive) under Moody's joint default analysis approach for
government-related issuers.
Moody's expectation of very high support is based on Sinopec Group's
100% ownership by the government, its very high level of
strategic importance to economy -- i.e. to national
energy security and its supply of refined oil products to the public and
China's industrial base -- as well as the government's strong historical
support for Sinopec Group and the reputation risk to the government if
it defaults.
Sinopec Group's BCA of 8 is underpinned by its dominant position in China's
energy and petrochemicals industries, large oil & gas reserve
base and production volumes, comparative advantages over its domestic
peers in terms of refining scale and efficiency, as well as synergies
from its highly integrated petrochemicals and retail marketing businesses.
However, its standalone rating is tempered by: 1) the negative
impact from China's evolving refined product-pricing mechanism;
and 2) the geopolitical and event risks associated with its fast pace
of expansion overseas. The standalone Baa1 rating also reflects
its holding company status.
The ratings outlook is stable, reflecting Moody's expectation that:
1) Sinopec Group will implement its upstream expansion strategy prudently;
and 2) the Chinese government will adopt a more favorable pricing mechanism
for refiners and will not burden them with substantial losses for a prolonged
period.
The principal methodology used in rating Sinopec Group Overseas Development
(2012) Limited was the Global Integrated Oil & Gas Industry Methodology
published in November 2009 and Government-Related Issuers:
Methodology Update Industry Methodology published in July 2010.
Please see the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com for
a copy of these methodologies.
Sinopec Group is China's largest refiner and petrochemicals producer
and the second-largest oil & gas producer. It is fully
owned by the government and is the largest enterprise owned by SASAC (State-owned
Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council).
Its oil & gas reserves of 5.84 billion boe, annual production
of 567 million boe, and crude distillation capacity of 249 mtpa
also position it as one of the largest integrated energy and petrochemicals
companies in the world. Its revenue in 2011 was USD405 billion.
The Local Market analyst for this rating is Hu Kai, +86 (10)
6319-6560.
Simon Wong
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd.
50 Raffles Place #23-06
Singapore Land Tower
Singapore 48623
Singapore
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (65) 6398-8308
Gary Lau
MD - Corporate Finance
Corporate Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (852) 3551-3077
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd.
50 Raffles Place #23-06
Singapore Land Tower
Singapore 48623
Singapore
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (65) 6398-8308
Moody's: No rating impact from Sinopec Group's additional bond issue