First-time rating
London, 12 October 2012 -- Moody's Investors Service has today assigned a Ba2 corporate family
rating (CFR) and probability of default rating (PDR) to JSC IDGC of Volga
(IDGC of Volga), a Russian electricity distribution grid business
servicing seven regions in the European part of Russia and a core operating
company of state-controlled IDGC Holding (Ba1 developing).
The outlook on the ratings is stable. This is the first time Moody's
has assigned a rating to IDGC of Volga.
RATINGS RATIONALE
IDGC of Volga's Ba2 CFR mainly reflects (1) its higher business
risk compared with the generally low risk of regulated grid peers operating
in developed markets; (2) its large investment programme designed
to renovate a depleted asset base which could create pressures on the
company's financial profile and liquidity; (3) a degree of
concentration of the company's customer base both geographically
and in terms of revenues from large customers. Moody's attributes
the company's higher business risk to the evolving regulation of
the Russian grid sector and uncertainties surrounding the state strategy
for the sector, including privatisation plans. The sector's
configuration is changing. The state has placed IDGC Holding,
the parent company of IDGC of Volga, under the management of FGC
UES (Baa2 stable). A potential merger of IDGC Holding and FGC UES,
also controlled by the state is being discussed.
IDGC of Volga rating positively factors in (1) its position as the dominant
distribution grid business in its highly populated service area,
which consists of seven regions (located in the European part of Russia,
to the southeast of the central regions of the country); (2) a degree
of state support available for the company through IDGC Holding,
which provides a one-notch uplift to IDGC of Volga's standalone
credit quality; (3) the linkage between electricity transmission
tariffs and IDGC of Volga's investment programme, established
following the recent regulatory-asset-base (RAB) tariff
revision for all of the company's seven regional branches;
(4) headroom under the company's financial profile within the current
rating (based on management's H1 2012 accounts, the company's
FFO interest coverage for H1 2012 on a last-12-months basis
is 11.7x and funds from operations (FFO)/net debt is 77.3%,
including Moody's standard adjustments).
The rating also incorporates IDGC of Volga's long-term debt
maturity profile, with short-term debt obligations in the
middle of 2012 accounting for just 2% of its total debt,
and access to state-owned banks, which Moody's expects
will mitigate investment-driven pressures on the company's
liquidity. At the same time, Moody's positively notes
management's commitment to maintaining a conservative financial
profile, including maintaining unadjusted debt/EBITDA significantly
below 3.0x.
In Moody's view, the evolving regulation and grid sector's
configuration remains the key risk for Russian grid businesses,
including IDGC of Volga, and a key component in determining their
rating, suppressing differences in their credit profiles.
Electricity transmission tariffs remain subject to political considerations
within the new RAB regulatory model, which was implemented to improve
transparency of tariffs and attract investments to the grid sector.
In this environment, the visibility of the long-term evolution
of grids' financial profiles remains limited, although this
is mitigated by a degree of state support available for the sector and
its players.
The stable outlook on IDGC of Volga's rating reflects Moody's
view that the company has sound plans to develop and adjust its business
taking into account tariff evolution, availability of funding and
the wider economic environment. The stable outlook is also predicated
on Moody's expectation that IDGC of Volga will be able to manage
its financial profile in line with the current rating category,
with FFO interest coverage and FFO/net debt not weakening below 3.5x
and 20%, respectively.
WHAT COULD CHANGE THE RATING UP/DOWN
Moody's does not expect upward pressure on the rating until there
is a better visibility with regard to the mid- to long-term
evolution of both (1) IDGC of Volga's financial profile in the evolving
regulatory environment; and (2) the grid sector's configuration.
Negative pressure on the rating could result from (1) Moody's view
that access to supportive measures from the state or its agents was no
longer available for IDGC of Volga through IDGC Holding; (2) a negative
shift in the developing regulatory regime and deteriorating margins;
(3) a failure on the part of IDGC of Volga to adjust its investment plans
to tariff decisions and thereby limit the deterioration of its financial
profile going forward, with total FFO interest coverage falling
below 3.5x and FFO/net debt below 20%. Furthermore,
if the company were unable to proactively address its liquidity needs
and maintain reasonable headroom under the financial covenants of its
bank agreements, negative pressure could be exerted on the ratings.
PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGY
The principal methodology used in this rating was Regulated Electric and
Gas Networks published in August 2009. Please see the Credit Policy
page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.
Headquartered in the city of Saratov, Russia, IDGC of Volga
is an interregional electricity distribution grid business, focused
on seven regions in the European part of Russia. IDGC of Volga
is a regulated natural monopoly, whose electricity transmission
revenues accounted for around 98.5% of 2011 total revenues
of RUB48.0 billion ($1.6 billion). The largest
shareholder of IDGC of Volga is state-controlled IDGC Holding (Ba1
developing), which holds 67.6% of the company's
voting shares.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
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Ekaterina Botvinova
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Infrastructure Finance
Moody's Investors Service Limited, Russian Branch
7th floor, Four Winds Plaza
21 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya St.
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Russia
Telephone: +7 495 228 6060
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Monica Merli
MD - Infrastructure Finance
Infrastructure Finance
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Moody's assigns Ba2 rating to IDGC of Volga; stable outlook