Hong Kong, August 31, 2018 -- Moody's Investors Service has assigned a first-time Baa1
issuer rating to Sichuan Provincial Investment Group Co.,
Ltd. (SCIG). At the same time, Moody's has assigned
a Baa1 senior unsecured rating to the proposed bond to be issued by SCIG
International Financial Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of SCIG.
The bond will be unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by SCIG.
The ratings outlook is stable.
The proceeds from the proposed issuance will be used for project investment
and for general corporate purposes.
RATINGS RATIONALE
SCIG's Baa1 issuer rating combines: (1) its ba1 baseline credit
assessment (BCA); and (2) a three-notch uplift to reflect
Moody's assessment of a high likelihood of extraordinary support from
the Sichuan Provincial Government in times of need, under Moody's
joint-default analysis (JDA) approach for government-related
issuers.
"SCIG's Baa1 rating reflects its status as the largest energy
platform for the Sichuan Provincial Government, and its important
role in the local power generation sector, which is commercially
viable but is linked to the public policy goals of the Sichuan Provincial
Government," says Boris Kan, a Moody's Vice President
and Senior Credit Officer.
SCIG holds 21% of the province's power generation assets,
with a total installed capacity of about 20.8 gigawatts (mainly
hydropower).
"The company's rating also reflects the high strategic importance
of its Yalong River hydropower assets, with about 60% of
the electricity generated by these assets transmitted to Jiangsu Province
in 2017 under the West-East Power Transmission Plan",
adds Kan.
"SCIG's ba1 BCA balances its low fuel cost risk, high cost
competitiveness and stable dividend distribution against its lack of a
majority interest in its Yalong River assets, its weakening credit
metrics due to large capital spending, and its exposure to non-power
and utilities operations and overseas expansion projects,"
says Kan.
Moody's assessment of a high likelihood of support from the Sichuan
Provincial Government reflects SCIG's status as a 'commercial public sector'
entity, given the company's key investments in the power generation
sector.
Moody's support assessment also factors in the Sichuan Provincial Government's
100% ownership of SCIG and its strong ability to provide support,
given that its credit quality — as an upper-tier regional
and local government with national strategic importance — is closely
connected to that of the sovereign.
The government's strong financial support is evidenced by a track record
of capital injections and subsidies for debt servicing.
Due to the expected high capital spending and the long repayment period
of new investments, Moody's expect SCIG's financial
metrics to gradually weaken over the next three years. Specifically,
Moody's project SCIG's pro rata consolidated funds from operations
(FFO)/debt to decline to 7.6%-8.4%
in 2018-20 from 8.8%-11.2% in
2016-17, and pro rata consolidated FFO interest coverage
ratio to decline to 2.9x-3.0x in 2018-20 from
3.1x-3.2x in 2016-17.
The stable outlook primarily reflects Moody's expectation that over
the next 12-18 months: (1) the company's credit metrics
remain at levels appropriate for its ba1 BCA level; and (2) its key
commercial public sector role and the Sichuan Provincial Government's
ability to provide support will remain intact. The Sichuan Provincial
Government's ability to provide support is mirrored in the stable
outlook on the sovereign rating.
Moody's could upgrade SCIG's rating if its BCA improves,
without any material change in the support assessment.
Moody's would raise SCIG's BCA if the company improves its
financial profile by increasing its earnings and reducing debt.
Credit metrics indicative of upward pressure on the BCA include adjusted
funds from operations (FFO) interest coverage with pro rata consolidation
of YHDC surpassing 3.5x, and/or adjusted FFO/debt with pro
rata consolidation of YHDC surpassing 13% on a sustained basis.
Moody's could also upgrade the rating, without a corresponding
improvement in the BCA, if there is an increase in SCIG's
strategic importance to the Sichuan Provincial Government or a strengthening
in the provincial government's ability to provide support,
the latter of which would be illustrated by an upgrade of the sovereign
rating.
SCIG's rating would be downgraded if its BCA weakens because of a material
deterioration in its business or financial profile, without any
material change in the support assessment. The BCA could be lowered
if: (1) SCIG takes on more aggressive debt-funded capital
expenditure; and/or (2) there are adverse changes in China's
regulatory environment.
Credit metrics indicative of downward pressure on SCIG's BCA include
adjusted FFO/debt with pro rata consolidation of YHDC below 5%,
and/or adjusted FFO/interest coverage with pro rata consolidation of YHDC
below 2.5x over a prolonged period.
A downgrade of China's sovereign rating (A1 stable) to A2 and/or deterioration
in the Sichuan Provincial Government's credit quality would not have an
immediate impact on the company's rating, because its rating is
resilient to such developments. However, Moody's could
downgrade the rating, without a corresponding improvement in the
BCA, if there is a reduction in SCIG's strategic importance
to the Sichuan Provincial Government.
The methodologies used in these ratings were Regulated Electric and Gas
Utilities published in June 2017, and Government-Related
Issuers published in June 2018. Please see the Rating Methodologies
page on www.moodys.com for a copy of these methodologies.
Established in 1988, Sichuan Provincial Investment Group Co.,
Ltd.'s (SCIG) is the largest state-owned energy platform
under the Sichuan Provincial Government. As of December 2017,
SCIG held interests in various power generation assets with a total installed
capacity of about 20.8 gigawatts (mainly hydropower), amounting
to 21% of the province's total.
SCIG's major asset is its 48% equity stake in Yalong River
Hydropower Dev Company, Ltd. (YHDC), which owns all
hydropower assets along the Yalong River. In 2017, YHDC contributed
84% of SCIG's adjusted FFO.
In addition to power generation, SCIG also engages in water &
gas utilities, iron alloy production and financial investments,
which accounted for 4%, 2% and 1% of the company's
gross profits in 2017, respectively. The company also began
its healthcare services operations earlier this year.
The company is wholly owned by the Sichuan State-owned Assets Supervision
and Administration Commission (SASAC).
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 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.
Moody's considers a rated entity or its agent(s) to be participating
when it maintains an overall relationship with Moody's. Unless
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the rated entities are participating and the rated entities or their agent(s)
generally provide Moody's with information for the purposes of its
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tab on the issuer/entity page and for details of Moody's Policy
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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.
The first name below is the lead rating analyst for this Credit Rating
and the last name below is the person primarily responsible for approving
this Credit Rating.
Boris Kan
VP - Senior Credit Officer
Project & Infrastructure Finance
Moody's Investors Service Hong Kong Ltd.
24/F One Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Hong Kong
China (Hong Kong S.A.R.)
JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350
Client Service: 852 3551 3077
Terry Fanous
MD-Public Proj & Infstr Fin
Project & Infrastructure Finance
JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350
Client Service: 852 3551 3077
Vivian Tsang
Associate Managing Director
Project & Infrastructure Finance
JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350
Client Service: 852 3551 3077
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service Hong Kong Ltd.
24/F One Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Hong Kong
China (Hong Kong S.A.R.)
JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350
Client Service: 852 3551 3077