Singapore, November 20, 2015 -- Moody's has affirmed the Baa2 long term rating of Gail (India) Limited
and changed the outlook to negative from stable.
RATINGS RATIONALE
"The change in outlook to negative reflects the rising share of
GAIL's cyclical business segments, especially petrochemicals,
which has higher business risk than the core gas transmission business",
says Abhishek Tyagi, a Moody's Vice President and Senior Analyst.
"The rating action also considers the weakness in petrochemicals
and liquid hydrocarbon segment and the resulting negative impact on the
credit profile of GAIL", Tyagi adds.
We expect GAIL's credit metrics to weaken in the fiscal year ending 31
March 2016 (FY16) due to ongoing challenges faced by the petrochemical
and liquid hydrocarbon segments because of falling profit margins.
"The expected weakness in performance will, if it persists,
reduce the headroom within the rating to a level that may no longer be
consistent with the Baa2 rating ", Tyagi says.
The recent doubling of Petrochemical capacity presents further challenges
given the cyclical nature of this business. At present, the
feedstock for GAIL's petrochemical plant is predominantly sourced
from Petronet LNG Ltd (Baa3 stable) via a long term contract which is
linked to a 5-year moving average of crude price. Such a
pricing structure has been presenting challenges for GAIL because it is
higher than current spot price which is reflective of the weak LNG market
fundamentals. Moody's notes that the company's cost
structure and overall financial performance will improve, somewhat,
if there is a change in gas price setting mechanism for this contract.
The Baa2 rating affirmation reflects GAIL's dominant position in
the gas transmission business, which provides support for the company's
credit profile. GAIL's Baa2 rating corresponds to its baseline
credit assessment (BCA) of baa2. Although the company is majority-owned
by the Indian government, its rating does not incorporate any uplift
from its BCA for potential support from the government because its BCA
is higher than the sovereign rating of India (Baa3 positive).
We expect GAIL's financial leverage as measured by FFO to Debt to
be in the range of 18-24% over next 12-24 months,
positioning it weakly within the rating. This level compares to
30.3% and 24.5% for FY2014 and FY2015 respectively.
GAIL's rating could be downgraded if its financial performance does not
improve over the next 12 months, or in the absence of countermeasures
to offset the elevation of its business risk arising from the substantial
growth in its petrochemical capacity. The rating could also be
negatively pressured if the company makes aggressive debt-funded
capex, including investments in the more risky Exploration &
Production (E&P) business.
Similarly, downward pressure could develop owing to significant
cash outflows to settle contingent liabilities or adverse regulatory changes.
Ratios that Moody's would consider for a downgrade include FFO/Debt falling
below 28-30% and debt/capitalization increasing to over
35% on a consistent basis
Upward rating movement is unlikely, given the rating is on negative
outlook. However, the rating could revert to stable if FFO/Debt
remains above 30% and Debt/Capitalization stays below 35%
on a consistent basis.
The methodologies used in this rating were Regulated Electric and Gas
Utilities published in December 2013, and Government-Related
Issuers published in October 2014. Please see the Credit Policy
page on www.moodys.com for a copy of these methodologies.
Established in 1984, the GAIL (India) Limited is the largest natural
gas transmission company in India, with interests in transmission,
distribution, processing, and upstream and downstream petrochemicals.
GAIL operates about 11,000 km of natural gas pipelines, with
a capacity to carry 210 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd)
as of 30 September 2015. Its network accounts for approximately
67% of the gas transmitted in India.
In addition, it operates around 2,050 km of liquefied petroleum
gas (LPG) pipeline, six LPG plants with a total production capacity
of 1.4 million tonnes, and a 810,000-tonne per
annum petrochemical facility. It was also participating in 14 E&P
blocks in India and overseas as of 30 September 2015.
GAIL's market capitalization was INR437 billion as of 20 November 2015.
Its main shareholders included the Indian government with 56.11%,
while foreign institutional investors and other shareholders held the
remaining shares, as of 30 September 2015.
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.
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.
Abhishek Tyagi
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Project & Infrastructure Finance
Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd.
50 Raffles Place #23-06
Singapore Land Tower
Singapore 48623
Singapore
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (852) 3551-3077
Terry Fanous
MD-Public, Proj & Infstr Fin
Project & Infrastructure Finance
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: (852) 3551-3077
Moody's affirms GAIL's Baa2 rating; Outlook changed to negative from stable