Approximately $ 3.6 Billion of Debt Securities Affected
NOTE: On June 01, 2014, the press release was revised as follows: In the Regulatory Disclosures section, added the Canada Ancillary Disclosure as the fourth paragraph. Revised release follows.
Toronto, April 24, 2014 -- Moody's Investors Service upgraded Canadian Pacific Railway Company's
("CPR") senior unsecured ratings to Baa2 from Baa3. This concludes
the review commenced January 30, 2014. CPR's ratings
outlook is positive.
RATINGS RATIONALE
"The upgrade of CPR's ratings to Baa2 reflects the significant improvement
in its operating results and financial position since new management was
installed in mid-2012", said Darren Kirk, vice
president and senior credit officer with Moody's. "The positive
ratings outlook signals that the company's ratings could be further
upgraded through the next 12-18 months should its strong performance
trend continue", added Kirk.
CPR's Baa2 rating is underpinned by its well-positioned railway
network and meaningful exposure to relatively stable commodity hauls.
Good prospects for mid-to-upper single digit revenue growth
from both price increases and higher volume levels coupled with strong
execution that should contribute to an operating margin sustained above
30% also favorably influence the rating. The resulting expected
improvement to CPR's EBITDA combined with robust free cash flow
- even after significant capital expenditures that facilitate improving
service levels - will provide the company with the ability to rapidly
de-lever. Nonetheless, Moody's expects CPR will
direct its growing cash flow towards share repurchases such that its adjusted
financial leverage is maintained between 2.0x and 2.5x.
The company's relatively small size versus its North American Class
1 peers, the limited time that it has demonstrated both its favorable
operating performance trend and enhanced balance sheet strength,
as well as its exposure to economic cyclicality, adverse weather
conditions and increasing regulatory risks constrain the rating.
CPR has excellent liquidity provided by almost $300 million of
unrestricted cash, full availability under its $1.2
billion revolving credit facility (matures November 2018) and Moody's
expectation for free cash flow of at least $400 million in the
next year. Debt maturities remain light through 2017 with about
$100 million due through the first quarter of 2015. CPR
has about $400 million in letters of credits issued under demand
bilateral facilities which are backed by a similar amount of restricted
cash.
A ratings upgrade could occur if Moody's expects the company to
maintain an operating ratio comfortably above 30%, adjusted
Debt/EBITDA below 2.5x and funds from operations to debt towards
35%.
A ratings downgrade could occur if Moody's expects the company to
sustain its adjusted Debt/ EBITDA above 3x and funds from operations to
debt below 25%.
Upgrades:
..Issuer: Canadian Pacific Railway Company
....Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture
Aug, 2021, Upgraded to Baa2 from Baa3
....Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture
Jan, 2022, Upgraded to Baa2 from Baa3
....Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture
Jan, 2042, Upgraded to Baa2 from Baa3
....Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture
Jan, 2022, Upgraded to Baa2 from Baa3
....Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture
Jun, 2018, Upgraded to Baa2 from Baa3
....Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture
Mar, 2033, Upgraded to Baa2 from Baa3
....Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture
May, 2018, Upgraded to Baa2 from Baa3
....Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture
May, 2019, Upgraded to Baa2 from Baa3
....Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture
Mar, 2023, Upgraded to Baa2 from Baa3
....Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture
Oct, 2031, Upgraded to Baa2 from Baa3
....Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture
Nov, 2039, Upgraded to Baa2 from Baa3
....Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture
May, 2037, Upgraded to Baa2 from Baa3
....Senior Unsecured Shelf, Upgraded
to (P)Baa2 from (P)Baa3
....Senior Unsecured Medium-Term Note
Program, Upgraded to (P)Baa2 from (P)Baa3
Outlook Actions:
..Issuer: Canadian Pacific Railway Company
....Outlook, Changed To Positive From
Rating Under Review
Canadian Pacific Railway Company, headquartered in Calgary,
Alberta, Canada, provides rail freight transportation services
over a 14,000 mile network. The railroad serves the principal
business centers of Canada from Montreal to Vancouver as well as the U.S.
Midwest and Northeast regions. CPR is a wholly-owned subsidiary
Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, a publicly traded entity.
The principal methodology used in this rating was the Global Surface Transportation
and Logistics Companies published in April 2013. Please see the
Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this
methodology.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt,
this announcement provides certain 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 certain 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 certain 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.
For any affected securities or rated entities receiving direct credit
support from the primary entity(ies) of this rating action, and
whose ratings may change as a result of this rating action, the
associated regulatory disclosures will be those of the guarantor entity.
Exceptions to this approach exist for the following disclosures,
if applicable to jurisdiction: Ancillary Services, Disclosure
to rated entity, Disclosure from rated entity.
The rating has been disclosed to the rated entity or its designated agent(s)
and issued with no amendment resulting from that disclosure.
Moody’s has not provided advisory services but may have provided Ancillary or Other Permissible Service(s) to the rated entity, its related third parties and/or the party that requested the rating within the past two years (including during the most recently ended fiscal year). Please see the special report “Ancillary or other permissible services provided to entities rated by MIS’s credit rating agency in Canada” on the ratings disclosure page www.moodys.com/disclosures on our website for further information.
Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit
rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating
review.
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.
Please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.
Darren M. Kirk
VP - Senior Credit Officer
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's Canada Inc.
70 York Street
Suite 1400
Toronto, ON M5J 1S9
Canada
(416) 214-1635
Donald S. Carter, CFA
MD - Corporate Finance
Corporate Finance Group
(416) 214-1635
Releasing Office:
Moody's Canada Inc.
70 York Street
Suite 1400
Toronto, ON M5J 1S9
Canada
(416) 214-1635
Moody's Upgrades Canadian Pacific Railway to Baa2; Positive Outlook