New York, December 22, 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service, ("Moody's") assigned
a B2 rating to the USD200 million senior secured notes due 2026 issued
by Gol Finance and unconditionally Guaranteed by Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes
S.A. (Gol, B3 stable) and Gol Linhas Aereas S.A..
Gol's existing ratings and its B3 Corporate Family Rating ("CFR")
remain unchanged. The ratings outlook is stable.
The new senior secured notes are rated B2, one notch above the CFR
of Gol, primarily reflecting the collateral that comprises the first
priority security interest in Gol's intellectual property including
patents, trademarks, brand names, trade dress,
know how, copyrights' secrets, domain names, and
social media accounts. The collateral will also include Gol's
aircraft spare parts located in Brazil, including rotable,
repairable and expendable parts.
Moody's understands that the new notes are secured and would rank
at least on a pari passu basis with Gol's other secured indebtedness
that pro-forma for the issuance will account for around 40%
of the company's indebtedness. Existing unsecured notes ratings
are unchanged at Caa1.
The notes proceeds will bolster the company's liquidity and help
financing its increasing working capital requirements and support the
rapid growth in demand, extend its debt maturity profile through
the repayment of upcoming debt maturities, and other general corporate
purposes.
RATINGS RATIONALE
Gol's B3 CFR reflects Gol's strong operating performance versus
our expectation at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak. The
B3 rating also reflects a lower risk of default in the short term,
especially after the repayment of the term loan guaranteed by Delta and
the successful refinancing of other debt instruments such as working capital
facilities and local market debentures that resulted in a more comfortable
debt amortization profile. Gol's ability to reduce costs through
agreements reached with employees and lessors that resulted in a better
than expected reduction in cash burn is also reflected in the B3 rating.
The B3 rating is constrained by the uncertainties the airline industry
will face as a result of the coronavirus pandemic that could lead to slower
economic recovery or another round of restrictions for travel and tourism
reducing the speed of the rebound in the industry. Despite the
better than expected recovery observed so far, the capital markets
are still demanding stronger collaterals packages and higher returns when
offering new funding to airlines in general. The ability to raise
liquidity and control cash burn will still be a key aspect in Gol's ratings
assessment.
The adverse impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the global economy,
oil prices and asset prices have sustained a severe and extensive credit
shock across many sectors, regions and markets. The combined
credit effects of these developments are unprecedented. The passenger
airline industry is one of the sectors most significantly affected by
the shock given its exposure to travel restrictions and sensitivity of
consumer demand to sentiment. Moody's regards the coronavirus pandemic
as a social risk under its ESG framework, given the substantial
implications for public health and safety.
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATING
Moody's could upgrade Gol if:
• risks and uncertainties are reduced significantly, and passenger
demand begins a sustainable recovery towards pre-coronavirus levels.
• Gol to maintain an adequate liquidity profile, with cash
consistently above 20% of revenues, and key metrics to improve
such as
• debt-to-EBITDA declines below 6x
• (funds from operations + interest)/ interest is sustained
above 3x.
Moody's could downgrade Gol if:
• pace of recovery of passenger demand is slower than Moody's expects
• liquidity concerns increase
• the company is unable to strengthen credit metrics through the
recovery phase
• there are increased expectations of a default in the company's
financial obligations
PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGY
The principal methodology used in this rating was Passenger Airline Industry
published in April 2018 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1091811.
Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of this methodology.
COMPANY PROFILE
Based in Sao Paulo and founded in 2001, Gol is the largest low-cost
carrier in Latin America, offering over 700 daily passenger flights
to connect Brazil's major cities and various destinations in South America,
North America and the Caribbean, along with cargo and charter flight
services. Additionally, Gol has a 53% stake in Smiles,
a loyalty program company with more than 14 million participants that
allows members to accumulate miles and redeem tickets in more than 900
destinations around the world and offer non-ticket reward products
and services. In the fiscal year ended December 2019, Gol
reported consolidated net revenues of BRL13.9 billion and lease
adjusted EBITDA of BRL4.1 billion. Gol LuxCo, Gol
Finance, and Gol Equity Finance are wholly-owned subsidiaries
of Gol.
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
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 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
support from the primary entity(ies) of this credit rating action,
and whose ratings may change as a result of this credit 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.
This rating is solicited. Please refer to Moody's Policy
for Designating and Assigning Unsolicited Credit Ratings available on
its website www.moodys.com.
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 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
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.
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.
Marcos Schmidt
VP - Senior Credit Officer
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's America Latina Ltda.
Avenida Nacoes Unidas, 12.551
16th Floor, Room 1601
Sao Paulo, SP 04578-903
Brazil
JOURNALISTS: 0 800 891 2518
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653
Marianna Waltz, CFA
MD - Corporate Finance
Corporate Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 0 800 891 2518
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