New York, July 14, 2015 -- Moody's Investors Service today downgraded the Corporate Family Rating
on Administración Nacional de Combustibles, Alcohol y Portland
(ANCAP) to B1 from Ba2. Moody's also downgraded the company's
Baseline Credit Assessment (BCA) to caa1 from b2. These rating
actions reflect the company's weak credit metrics, which Moody's
believes will not reverse rapidly. The outlook on the ratings is
stable.
RATINGS RATIONALE
The downgrade of ANCAP's BCA (a measure of the issuer's intrinsic risk
regardless of its controlling entity) to caa1 reflects a weaker stand-alone
credit profile derived mainly from the company's increased debt burden
and persistent negative operating margins and cash generation.
ANCAP, owned by the government of Uruguay, is the only refiner
in the country, responsible for supplying 100% of the domestic
needs of oil products. Because Uruguay does not have crude production,
the company depends 100% on oil imports. In the last years,
the government of Uruguay had prevented ANCAP from passing on cost increases,
specially of crude, to final prices, which caused losses and
increase in debt. In the short to medium term, Moody's
believes that, despite the new government's guideline for
more independent SOEs (sovereign-owned enterprises), it will
be difficult for ANCAP to get approval for sizable price increases that
would materially and rapidly help reverse negative operating margins and
cash flows, given high annual inflation rate, at about 8%.
In addition, cost cuts may be difficult to achieve by a company
with limited cash to invest further in equipment or technology upgrades
and a strong workforce.
As of December 2014, ANCAP's total adjusted debt amounted to approximately
USD 875 million, the equivalent to USD 3,130 per complexity
barrel; Moody's-adjusted debt amount in the same period
includes USD 325 million owed to PDVSA for purchase of crude oil.
Although ANCAP's leverage has increased substantially during 2012-2014,
above historical levels, Moody's expects the amount of debt
to stabilize going forward, now that the works at the La Teja Refinery
have finished and capex has declined. However, operating
margins will remain under pressure over the medium to long term,
especially as crude prices start to increase again, as Moody's
expects will gradually happen in the next couple of years.
ANCAP's caa1 BCA is supported by its monopoly position in refining and
dominant position in wholesale marketing in Uruguay. However,
the BCA also considers the company's relatively small size, particularly
in the context of its exposure to volatile and cyclical commodity prices,
dependence on crude oil imports, as well as its reliance on a single
refinery. ANCAP's crude distillation capacity of 50,000 bpd
at a single complex (La Teja) raises concentration and operating risk
issues.
Since ANCAP is 100% owned by the Uruguayan government, it
is considered a government related issuer (GRI) under Moody's methodology
for such entities. ANCAP's B1 Corporate Family Rating is based
on its BCA of caa1, medium dependence, reflecting the moderate
degree of correlation between factors that could lead to financial stress
on ANCAP and the government at the same time, and a high probability
of extraordinary support from the government. The government's
willingness to support the company is based on its 100% ownership
of ANCAP's, the company's monopoly status for refining activities
in Uruguay, and its strategic importance to Uruguay's economy and
national security. The high support level embedded in ANCAP's ratings
was evidenced in early 2013 by the USD 500 million loan equivalent that
the government granted to the company, which basically replaced
half of ANCAP's total outstanding debt at the time; the government
loan is denominated in local currency ("UI" or "unidades indexadas") and
therefore reduced ANCAP's exposure to FX risk. In addition,
the government of Uruguay's ability to provide support to ANCAP is measured
by its Baa2 local currency rating with a stable outlook.
ANCAP's liquidity position is weak. Its cash flow is subject
to the volatility of commodity prices and it needs to constantly roll-over
short-term bank loans, which represented close to 60%
of total debt as of December 2014. Foreign exchange risk is also
high for ANCAP since imports are 100% U.S. dollar
denominated and 80% of its debt is in U.S. dollars.
However, although the company does not have access to committed
credit facilities, as a government owned entity it has ample access
to local and international bank financing in Uruguay.
The stable rating outlook reflects Moody's expectation that ANCAP's
operating and financial performance over the short to medium term will
be based on possible local prices increases, which the rating agency
believes will not be enough to materially revert current weak credit protection
metrics promptly.
Given ANCAP's current debt levels and weak operating and credit metrics,
an upgrade of its BCA is not likely in the short to medium term.
However, an upgrade of Uruguay's ratings could add upward rating
pressure on ANCAP's Corporate Family Rating. Conversely,
if the company's operating margins and free cash flow do not turn
positive during 2015 and its debt continues increasing, its ratings
could be downgraded further.
The principal methodology used in this rating was Global Refining and
Marketing Rating Methodology published in December 2009. Other
methodologies used include the Government-Related Issuers published
in October 2014. Please see the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of these methodologies.
Administración Nacional de Combustibles, Alcohol y Portland
(ANCAP) is Uruguay's state-owned oil company with a monopoly position
in refining and wholesale marketing within Uruguay. ANCAP owns
Uruguay's only refinery (La Teja), with a Nelson complexity rating
of 8 and a crude distillation capacity of 50,000 barrels per day;
it is also engaged in the production of cement. ANCAP is the largest
company in Uruguay, with revenues and total assets of USD 2.1
billion and USD 2.1 billion, respectively, in 2014.
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.
Nymia C. Almeida
VP - Senior Credit Officer
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's de Mexico S.A. de C.V
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Marianna Waltz, CFA
MD - Corporate Finance
Corporate Finance Group
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Moody's downgrades ANCAP's rating to B1; outlook remains stable