London, 18 April 2012 -- Moody's Investors Service has today placed on review for downgrade the
Baa2 long-term issuer rating of Repsol YPF S.A. ("Repsol")
and the Baa2/Prime-2 ratings of Repsol International Finance B.V.'s
senior unsecured guaranteed debt. Moody's has also placed on review
for downgrade the Ba1 preferred stock rating of Repsol International Capital
Limited.
RATINGS RATIONALE
The rating action reflects the recent decision by the Argentinean government
to pass a law changing majority control in YPF Sociedad Anónima
("YPF", B3 review for downgrade). As a result,
51% of YPF's Class D shares, all owned by Repsol,
could be declared of public interest and subject to expropriation.
The Argentinean government's action is expected to reduce Repsol's
stake in YPF to 6% from 57%. The government has also
approved a presidential decree placing YPF under immediate state supervision
and appointed a government minister as controller of the company.
Moody's believes that the expropriation of Repsol from its 51%
stake in YPF without adequate compensation from the Argentinean government
will result in some significant weakening in the credit metrics of the
group. The expropriation will reduce the scale and diversity of
Repsol's business profile and increase its relative exposure to
the challenged European downstream sector. YPF accounts for around
a third of Repsol's proved reserves on a proportional basis,
even though it contributed by way of dividend just above 20% of
the group's funds from operations in 2011.
Moody's intends to finalise its rating review within the next few weeks.
The review will focus on the corrective actions that Repsol's management
may take in order to mitigate the effect of the expropriation and shore
up the financial profile of the group. The review will also take
into account a range of possible compensation scenarios and their impact
on the group's financial position. Furthermore, the
implications of a potential default by YPF on its own debt will be explored
as Repsol's EUR1 billion bond maturing in July 2013 includes a cross
default clause with YPF's debt.
WHAT COULD CHANGE THE RATING UP/DOWN
While significant strategic or financial actions would be required to
warrant the confirmation of Repsol's ratings at their current level,
the review will assess the actions that the Spanish group will implement
or consider to adjust its financial profile to its reduced business portfolio
in order to protect its investment grade status.
PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGY
The principal methodology used in these ratings were Global Integrated
Oil & Gas Industry published in November 2009. Please see the
Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this
methodology.
Headquartered in Madrid, Spain, Repsol YPF, is a major
integrated oil and gas company with consolidated total proved hydrocarbon
reserves of 2.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) and a strong
downstream presence in the Iberian peninsular. In 2011, the
group reported consolidated operating revenue of EUR63.7 billion
and hydrocarbon production of 290 million boe (including YPF's contribution
of 181 million boe).
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series
or category/class of debt or pursuant to a program for which the ratings
are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's
rating practices. For ratings issued on a support provider,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to the rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular
rating action for securities that derive their credit ratings from the
support provider's credit rating. For provisional ratings,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to the provisional rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive
rating that may be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt,
in each case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed
prior to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would
have affected the rating. For further information please see the
ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com.
The ratings have been disclosed to the rated entities or its designated
agent(s) and issued with no amendment resulting from that disclosure.
Information sources used to prepare each of the ratings are the following:
parties involved in the ratings, public information, and confidential
and proprietary Moody's Investors Service information.
Moody's considers the quality of information available on the rated
entities, obligations or credits satisfactory for the purposes of
issuing these reviews.
Moody's adopts all necessary measures so that the information it
uses in assigning the ratings is of sufficient quality and from sources
Moody's considers to be reliable including, when appropriate,
independent third-party sources. However, Moody's
is not an auditor and cannot in every instance independently verify or
validate information received in the rating process.
Moody's Investors Service may have provided Ancillary or Other Permissible
Service(s) to the rated entities or their related third parties within
the two years preceding the credit rating action. Please see the
special report "Ancillary or other permissible services provided
to entities rated by MIS's EU credit rating agencies" on the
ratings disclosure page on our website www.moodys.com for
further information.
Please see the ratings disclosure page on www.moodys.com
for general disclosure on potential conflicts of interests.
Please see the ratings disclosure page on www.moodys.com
for information on (A) MCO's major shareholders (above 5%)
and for (B) further information regarding certain affiliations that may
exist between directors of MCO and rated entities as well as (C) the names
of entities that hold ratings from MIS that have also publicly reported
to the SEC an ownership interest in MCO of more than 5%.
A member of the board of directors of this rated entity may also be a
member of the board of directors of a shareholder of Moody's Corporation;
however, Moody's has not independently verified this matter.
Please see Moody's Rating Symbols and Definitions on the Rating
Process page on www.moodys.com for further information on
the meaning of each rating category and the definition of default and
recovery.
Please see ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for the last rating action and the rating history. The date on
which some ratings were first released goes back to a time before Moody's
ratings were fully digitized and accurate data may not be available.
Consequently, Moody's provides a date that it believes is
the most reliable and accurate based on the information that is available
to it. Please see the ratings disclosure page on our website www.moodys.com
for further information.
In addition to the information provided below please find on the ratings
tab of the issuer page at www.moodys.com, for each
of the ratings covered, Moody's disclosures on the lead rating
analyst and the Moody's legal entity that has issued each of the
ratings.
Francois Lauras
VP - Senior Credit Officer
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service Ltd.
One Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London E14 5FA
United Kingdom
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Olivier Beroud
Managing Director
Corporate Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service Ltd.
One Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London E14 5FA
United Kingdom
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Moody's places Repsol's Baa2 rating on review for downgrade