New York, November 02, 2021 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") affirmed
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.'s (Air Products) A2
senior unsecured ratings. The affirmation follows the company's
announcement that the asset acquisition and project financing for the
company's Jazan project has been completed. The rating outlook
is stable.
"Air Products' clear and public commitment to the A2 rating
is a critical factor driving the affirmation despite expectations for
significant capital deployment in the coming years," said
Ben Nelson, Moody's Vice President -- Senior Credit Officer
and lead analyst for Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
Affirmations:
..Issuer: Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
.... Commercial Paper, Affirmed P-1
.... Issuer Rating, Affirmed A2
....Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture,
Affirmed A2
..Issuer: California Pollution Control Financing Auth.
....Senior Unsecured Revenue Bonds,
Affirmed A2
....Other Short Team Senior Unsecured Revenue
Bonds, Affirmed P-1
..Issuer: Gulf Coast Waste Disposal Authority,
TX
....Senior Unsecured Revenue Bonds,
Affirmed A2
....Other Short Team Senior Unsecured Revenue
Bonds, Affirmed P-1
..Issuer: Louisiana Public Facilities Authority
....Senior Unsecured Revenue Bonds,
Affirmed A2
.... Other Short Team Senior Unsecured Revenue
Bonds, Affirmed P-1
..Issuer: Michigan Strategic Fund
....Senior Unsecured Revenue Bonds,
Affirmed A2
....Other Short Team Senior Unsecured Revenue
Bonds, Affirmed P-1
..Issuer: Port Arthur Navigation District Ind Corp,
TX
....Senior Unsecured Revenue Bonds,
Affirmed A2
....Other Short Team Senior Unsecured Revenue
Bonds, Affirmed P-1
Outlook Actions:
..Issuer: Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
....Outlook, Remains Stable
RATINGS RATIONALE
Air Products announced on 27 September 2021 a definitive agreement for
the asset acquisition and project financing of a joint venture in Jazan
Economic City (Saudi Arabia). The joint venture is purchasing the
air separation units, gasification, syngas cleanup,
utilities, and power assets from Aramco. The joint venture
will operate the facility under a 25-year contract for a fixed
monthly fee. Aramco will supply feedstock and the assets will produce
power, steam, hydrogen, and other utilities for Aramco's
Jazan Refinery, a project that produces ultra-light sulfur
diesel, gasoline, and other products. Air Products
announced on 27 October 2021 the details of the joint venture's
financing, including non-recourse project financing and a
$2.4 billion cash contribution split between 2021 ($1.5
billion) and 2023 ($0.9 billion). Increased reliance
on joint ventures with substantial non-recourse financing could
prompt re-dimensioning of the appropriate credit metrics and liquidity
to support the rating.
Air Products has a significant pipeline of additional capital projects,
including two major "blue" hydrogen projects announced recently
and a major "green" hydrogen project. Hydrogen production
is an energy intensive business that typically involves significant greenhouse
gas emissions. The environmental benefit of blue hydrogen projects
involves capturing and sequestering a substantial portion of the carbon
emissions. Air Products announced major blue hydrogen projects
in Alberta, Canada, ("net-zero hydrogen") and Louisiana,
USA. The environmental benefit of green hydrogen projects involves
using renewable energy without the same emissions profile as fossil fuel.
Air Products announced major green hydrogen project in NEOM, Saudi
Arabia. Moody's does not expect these projects will come
on stream for at least several years.
Air Products' A2 ratings are supported by the company's size and scale,
strong profitability, relatively stable cash flow generation through
economic cycles compared to most rated chemical and industrial companies.
Key credit metrics are appropriate for the rating, including adjusted
financial leverage of 2.2x (Debt/EBITDA) and retained cash flow-to-debt
of 25% (RCF/Debt) for the twelve months ended 30 June 2021.
The company reported roughly $7.7 billion of debt and $4.3
billion of cash at 30 June 2021. Moody's expects that capital
will be deployed toward assets that generate additional earnings and cash
flow. While the company has maintained very strong credit metrics
for the rating over the past few years, the rating is tempered by
an expectation for significant capital deployment within management's
public commitment to maintain an A2 rating and an expectation that credit
metrics will weaken in the coming quarters. Increased reliance
on joint ventures with substantial non-recourse financing could
also prompt re-dimensioning of the appropriate credit metrics and
liquidity to support the rating.
Environmental, social, and governance factors influence Air
Products' credit quality. The company is exposed to ESG-related
issues typical for a company in the industrial gas industry. Industrial
gas firms have lower direct environmental risks related to manufacturing
processes compared to other specialty chemical companies. However,
some customer end markets carry higher risks, and, in some
cases, industrial gas firms' assets are integrated into these facilities.
End markets with higher environmental and social risks include commodity
and specialty chemicals, metals, refining, and steel.
Governance-related risk is below average based on the company's
publicly-traded status and commitment to the current rating.
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS
The stable outlook assumes that the company will maintain a healthy cash
balance and appropriate credit metrics while deploying capital aggressively
toward major projects. Moody's could upgrade the ratings with expectations
for adjusted financial leverage to be sustained below 2.0x (Debt/EBITDA),
retained cash flow-to-debt sustained above 35% (RCF/Debt),
and a public commitment to a higher rating. Moody's could downgrade
the rating with expectations for adjusted financial leverage sustained
above 2.5x (Debt/EBITDA) or retained cash flow-to-debt
sustained below 25% (RCF/Debt). Given the lag between cash
outflows and cash inflows from major projects, the rating incorporates
some flexibility for gross debt credit metrics to weaken slightly beyond
established thresholds with continued strength in net debt-based
credit metrics, clear line of sight regarding EBITDA and cash flow
contributions from major projects, and continued clear and public
commitment to the A2 rating. Any material escalation in risks related
to joint ventures or projects in emerging markets in an environment of
weaker credit metrics could also have negative rating implications.
Headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Air Products and
Chemicals, Inc. is the third-largest global supplier
of industrial gases by reported revenue. Air Products CEO,
Seifi Ghasemi, was appointed in July 2014. Air Products generated
roughly $9.8 billion of revenue for the twelve months ended
30 June 2021.
The principal methodology used in these ratings was Chemical Industry
published in March 2019 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1152388.
Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of this methodology.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For further specification of Moody's key rating assumptions and
sensitivity analysis, see the sections Methodology Assumptions and
Sensitivity to Assumptions in the disclosure form. Moody's
Rating Symbols and Definitions can be found at: https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_79004.
For ratings issued on a program, series, category/class of
debt or security this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures
in relation to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the
same series, category/class of debt, security or pursuant
to a program for which the ratings are derived exclusively from existing
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issued on a support provider, this announcement provides certain
regulatory disclosures in relation to the credit rating action on the
support provider and in relation to each particular credit 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
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and whose ratings may change as a result of this credit rating action,
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Exceptions to this approach exist for the following disclosures,
if applicable to jurisdiction: Ancillary Services, Disclosure
to rated entity, Disclosure from rated entity.
The ratings have been disclosed to the rated entity or its designated
agent(s) and issued with no amendment resulting from that disclosure.
These ratings are solicited. Please refer to Moody's Policy
for Designating and Assigning Unsolicited Credit Ratings available on
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Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit
rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating
review.
Moody's general principles for assessing environmental, social
and governance (ESG) risks in our credit analysis can be found at http://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1288235.
The Global Scale Credit Rating on this Credit Rating Announcement was
issued by one of Moody's affiliates outside the EU and is endorsed
by Moody's Deutschland GmbH, An der Welle 5, Frankfurt
am Main 60322, Germany, 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 issued the credit rating is available on www.moodys.com.
The Global Scale Credit Rating on this Credit Rating Announcement was
issued by one of Moody's affiliates outside the UK and is endorsed
by Moody's Investors Service Limited, One Canada Square,
Canary Wharf, London E14 5FA under the law applicable to credit
rating agencies in the UK. Further information on the UK endorsement
status and on the Moody's office that issued the credit rating is
available on www.moodys.com.
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.
Benjamin Nelson
VP - Senior Credit Officer
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653
Glenn B. Eckert
Associate Managing Director
Corporate Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653