Singapore, June 22, 2012 -- The following release represents Moody's Investors Service's summary
credit opinion on Petroliam Nasional Berhad and includes certain regulatory
disclosures regarding its ratings. This release does not constitute
any change in Moody's ratings or rating rationale for Petroliam Nasional
Berhad and its affiliates.
Moody's current ratings on Petroliam Nasional Berhad and its affiliates
are:
Petroliam Nasional Berhad
Long Term Issuer (domestic currency) rating of A1
Senior Unsecured (foreign currency) ratings of A1
Petronas Capital Ltd
BACKED Senior Unsecured (foreign currency) ratings of A1
PETRONAS Global Sukuk Ltd.
BACKED Senior Unsecured (foreign currency) ratings of A1
RATINGS RATIONALE
PETRONAS' baseline credit assessment (BCA) of 5, which maps to Moody's
global scale of A1, reflects the company's substantial cash generation,
conservative financial profile, solid liquidity profile with significant
cash holdings, and large-scale hydrocarbon reserves.
The company benefits from a high degree of operational integration and
profitable domestic Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs). Its financial
and operating measures are comparable with those of highly rated international
integrated oil & gas majors such as Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell.
However, these strengths are balanced by the geographical concentration
of the company's reserve base in Malaysia and its small-scale downstream
operations compared to the international integrated oil & gas majors.
PETRONAS' rating also accommodates relatively higher business risks following
the company's winning bids for four oil fields in Iraq, given the
inherent higher geo-political risks.
Furthermore, as a government-related issuer (GRI),
PETRONAS' rating also reflects a very high level of support from the Malaysian
government as well as very high inter-dependence between the government
and PETRONAS.
PETRONAS' foreign currency rating is appropriately positioned at two notches
above Malaysia's foreign currency bond rating, based on our assessment
of the low likelihood that PETRONAS would be affected in the event of
a general moratorium in Malaysia on foreign currency debt payments.
Rating Outlook
The stable outlook reflects Moody's expectation that PETRONAS will maintain
its strong credit protection measures over the next 12-24 months.
It further reflects Moody's expectation that despite PETRONAS' riskier
business profile following the acquisition of the oil fields in Iraq,
the company will maintain continued focus on its conservative financial
profile, strong liquidity, and financial flexibility that
underpin its ratings.
What Could Change the Rating - Up
PETRONAS' rating is two notches higher than the Malaysian government's
rating. Thus, upside potential for the rating is limited
- given not just the high inter-dependence with the government,
but also the execution risks related to the company's overseas acquisitions.
An upgrade to Malaysia's sovereign rating would not necessarily lead to
an upgrade of PETRONAS' rating, however, as Moody's would
assess any impact on its merits.
What Could Change the Rating - Down
Downward rating pressure could arise if PETRONAS were to face any significant
disappointments in developing its new investments. Weakening of
its financial and liquidity profiles as a result of substantial debt funding
for the Iraqi projects or for any further new investments, leading
to gross adjusted debt to total capitalization rising towards 35%-40%,
could also pressure the rating.
A rating downgrade would also occur if there is a deterioration in Malaysia's
sovereign rating.
The principal methodology used in these ratings was the Global Integrated
Oil and Gas Industry Methodology published in November 2009. Other
methodologies used include the Government-Related Issuers methodology
published in July 2010. Please see the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of these methodologies.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
The Global Scale Credit Ratings on this press release that are issued
by one of Moody's affiliates outside the EU are endorsed by Moody's
Investors Service Ltd., One Canada Square, Canary Wharf,
London E 14 5FA, UK, in accordance with Art.4 paragraph
3 of the Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 on Credit Rating Agencies.
Further information on the EU endorsement status and on the Moody's
office that has issued a particular Credit Rating is available on www.moodys.com.
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 their 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 ratings.
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.
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.
Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to
the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has
issued the rating.
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
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Philipp Lotter
Associate Managing Director
Corporate Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (65) 6398-8308
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 Disclosures on Credit Ratings of Petroliam Nasional Berhad