Singapore, March 22, 2021 -- Moody's Investors Service has affirmed Power Sector Assets and Liabilities
Management Corp.'s (PSALM) Baa2 issuer and backed senior
unsecured bond ratings.
The outlook on the ratings remains stable.
RATINGS RATIONALE
"PSALM's credit profile is underpinned by its strategic importance
as a state-owned enterprise that carries out a mandated policy
role for the Philippine power sector. Also supporting the ratings
is the Government of Philippines' (Baa2 stable) strong commitment to the
company, which underpins the very high likelihood of support for
PSALM, to prevent a default in times of stress," says
Spencer Ng, a Moody's Vice President and Senior Analyst.
Established in 2001 under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA),
PSALM plays a key role in facilitating the government's plan to
reform Philippines' power sector, including the orderly privatization
of the country's power assets and liquidation of the liabilities
transferred from the National Power Corporation (NPC, Baa2 stable).
Moreover, the government is obligated to assume any remaining assets
and liabilities at the end of PSALM's 25-year corporate life under
the EPIRA, which aligns PSALM's long-term interest
with that of the government.
PSALM's financial position and liquidity are heavily influenced
by the government, given the presence of government officials on
the company's board of directors and, going forward,
PSALM's reliance on funding allocated from the Malampaya fund by
the government under the Murang Kuryente Act (MKA).
The MKA, signed in August 2019, allows the government to allocate
PHP208 billion available in the Malampaya fund to PSALM over the next
three to four years to meet the company's stranded costs associated
with the assets and liabilities inherited from NPC. In return,
PSALM will no longer be able to collect new tariffs to pay for any future
stranded contract costs and stranded debts until the full exhaustion of
the PHP208 billion from the Malampaya fund.
The MKA provides greater clarity on how PSALM will be reimbursed for the
stranded costs over time. However, the arrangement will also
increase PSALM's exposure and dependence on the government's
own fiscal and economic position, given that annual allocation under
the MKA will need to be approved as part of the annual government budget.
If annual funding allocated under the MKA falls short of the requirement,
PSALM might need to raise additional debt to meet its operating requirements.
Moody's expects the government to continue to support the company's
funding requirements. The Philippine government has unconditionally
and irrevocably guaranteed all of PSALM's outstanding external debt and
provided loans to the company.
Under Moody's Joint Default Analysis (JDA) approach for government-related
issuers (GRIs), Moody's assessment of government support for
the company is "Very High", which is demonstrated by the above factors.
In Moody's view, PSALM's close financial and operational
links with the government make its credit profile inseparable from the
government's own credit profile. As such, PSALM's rating
is derived solely based on support and is assigned without a baseline
credit assessment.
The stable ratings outlook is in line with the stable outlook for the
Philippine sovereign rating, and reflects Moody's expectation that
PSALM's strategic importance to and strong support from the government,
if and when needed, will remain intact over at least the next 12-18
months.
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS
The company's ratings could be upgraded if Philippines' sovereign
rating is upgraded.
On the other hand, PSALM's ratings could be downgraded if
Philippines' sovereign rating is downgraded, or if evidence emerges
of a weakening in government support for PSALM or any change in PSALM's
policy role.
The principal methodology used in these ratings was Government-Related
Issuers Methodology published in February 2020 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1186207.
Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of this methodology.
Power Sector Assets & Liabilities Management Corporation, wholly
owned and controlled by the Philippine government, was established
in 2001 to take ownership of, and manage, all generation-related
assets, liabilities, contracts with independent power producers,
real estate and other disposable assets of NPC, including National
Transmission Corporation, and to privatize and sell these assets
to liquidate NPC's financial obligations.
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
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support provider and in relation to each particular credit rating action
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and governance (ESG) risks in our credit analysis can be found at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1243406.
The Global Scale Credit Rating on this Credit Rating Announcement was
issued by one of Moody's affiliates outside the EU and is endorsed
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3 of the Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 on Credit Rating Agencies.
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Spencer Ng
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Project & Infrastructure Finance
Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd.
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Terry Fanous
MD-Public Proj & Infstr Fin
Project & Infrastructure Finance
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