London, 25 July 2013 -- Moody's Investors Service today assigned a provisional (P)Baa3 senior
unsecured rating to the proposed issue of unsecured and unsubordinated
notes by AngloGold Ashanti Holdings plc ("AGAH"), a wholly-owned
subsidiary of AngloGold Ashanti Limited ("AGA"). The notes will
be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by AGA. The outlook is
negative.
The proposed benchmark issuance of the senior unsecured notes will be
used for general corporate purposes, which may include the repurchase
or repayment of its US$732.5 million convertible bond due
May 2014 and the repayment of other indebtedness. Placement of
the new notes will lead AGA to cancel its US$750 million syndicated
bridge loan facility, which was put in place to redeem the convertible
bond. The (P)Baa3 rating of the proposed notes assumes that the
final transaction documents will not be materially different from draft
legal documentation reviewed by Moody's to date and that these agreements
are legally valid, binding and enforceable.
RATINGS RATIONALE
AGA's Baa3 rating is supported by the company's position as the third-largest
gold producer globally, with a sizeable reserve base. It
also positively reflects the company's good geographic diversity,
having 21 operations in 10 different countries and four separate continents.
In addition, the rating is supported by a management team that remains
committed to a transparent and conservative financial approach,
which Moody's expects will ensure that necessary measures are taken to
preserve liquidity and reduce operating and capex costs should gold prices
remain at around US$1200/oz.
The rating also factors in AGA's operating environment, which includes
the event risk from negative developments in terms of higher taxes combined
with the high political risk and weak institutional strength to which
AGA is exposed to in a number of countries in which it operates.
The rating positioning recognises that AGA is primarily a single commodity
producer, as well as: (1) the inherent volatility in the gold
price, given the fully unhedged position of the company; and
(2) the company being able to maintain stable operating margins and operating
cash flow should gold remain at prices around US$1200/oz.
The ratings reflect that only in 2014 will AGA realise the full benefits
of many of the measures it is taking to reduce its cash outflows in response
to lower gold prices, and that these remedial steps may not be sufficient
to stabilise operating margins and operating cash flow, especially
if the gold price continues to decline. In addition, they
factor an additional risk facing AGA of potential prolonged strike action
at AGA's South African operations as a result of wage negotiations this
year. Furthermore, the rollout of AGA's two key projects,
Kibali and Tropicana, have continued to consume both internally
generated cash and debt funding, albeit Moody's expects that both
projects will come into production by the end of 2013 within budget.
All of these factors may pressure AGA's liquidity profile over the next
12 months and place stress on the financial covenants contained in the
company's banking facilities.
The negative outlook factors that AGA's liquidity profile has weakened
due to the capex requirements of Tropicana and Kibali and the need to
ensure that they come on stream according to plan. However,
the rating agency expects AGA will take proactive steps with regard to
restoring its liquidity profile to its previous position following this
capex spend. In Moody's view, it will be important for AGA
to deliver these projects in a timely manner, both from a EBITDA/cash
flow generation perspective and lowering the cost profile of its production
portfolio, especially in light of the lower gold price environment.
Moody's will consider stabilising the outlook on AGA's rating if:
(1) the wage negotiation process at its South African mining operations
is concluded in such a way the company's liquidity profile and credit
metrics remain commensurate with its Baa3 rating; (2) the company
takes proactive measures to strengthen its liquidity profile, which
would address concerns around potential covenant breaches that could result
from a protracted strike action at its mines; and (3) it successfully
brings the Tropicana and Kibali projects on stream within its envisaged
timeline and budget.
Downward pressure on AGA's rating would likely arise due to heightened
operating risk in any of its operating assets that leads to a material
deterioration in operating performance. The rating would also come
under negative pressure if the company was unable to adjust its cost base
in light of lower gold prices such that: (1) total debt/EBITDA exceeds
3.25x; (2) cash flow from operations minus dividends/debt
falls below 20%; and (3) its liquidity profile weakens materially.
Given the negative outlook, upward pressure on AGA's rating will
remain limited in the short to medium term. However, Moody's
anticipates that AGA's total cash cost positioning and credit metrics
will improve once its key projects in Kibali and Tropicana come on stream,
both of which are expected to have total cash costs lower than the company's
current total cash cost of US$894/oz as of 31 March 2013.
Longer term, upward rating pressure could occur if AGA's:
(1) debt/EBITDA is sustainably less than 2.0x under Moody's forecast
assumptions; (2) cash flow from operations minus dividends/debt exceeds
30% on a sustainable basis; (3) AGA is able to sustainably
generate positive free cash flow; and (4) liquidity is robust.
Please see latest credit opinion dated 18 July 2013 and associated research
for further information.
Moody's last rating action was 12 July 2013 when Moody's downgraded AngloGold
Ashanti's issuer rating and the senior unsecured debt obligations of AGA's
guaranteed subsidiary, AngloGold Ashanti Holding plc, to Baa3
from Baa2 with a negative outlook.
The principal methodology used in this rating was the Global Mining Industry
published in May 2009. Please see the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of this methodology.
Headquartered in South Africa, AngloGold Ashanti Limited (AGA) is
a global gold mining company operating out of 21 locations in Southern
and Continental Africa, North and South America, and Australia.
With a production of 3.94 million ounces (Moz) of gold and preliminary
revenues of US$6.1 billion for the Last Twelve Months Ended
(LTM) 31 March 2013, AGA ranks as the world's third largest gold
producer. In South Africa (32% of production as of LTM 31
March 2013), AGA has six deep level operations and two surface operations,
while most of its operations in other countries are open pit. The
company is listed on the New York, Johannesburg, Ghanaian,
London and Australian stock exchanges.
The Local Market analyst for this rating is Dion Bate, 27-11-217-5472.
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.
Gianmarco Migliavacca
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service Ltd.
One Canada Square
Canary Wharf
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United Kingdom
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David Staples
MD - Corporate Finance
Corporate Finance Group
Telephone: 00971 4237 9536
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Moody's assigns (P)Baa3 rating to AngloGold Ashanti's notes; negative outlook