Singapore, May 17, 2013 -- Moody's Investors Service has placed on review for upgrade Singapore
Power's (SP) Aa3 issuer rating, SP Power Assets' (SPPA)
Aa3 issuer and senior unsecured bond ratings, and SPPA's (P)Aa3
Senior Unsecured MTN Program domestic currency rating.
At the same time, Moody's has placed on review for downgrade
the ratings of SP's Australian subsidiaries: SP AusNet (A1),
51% held by SP; SPI (Australia) Assets Pty Ltd (SPIAA,
A3), wholly owned by SP; and Jemena (A3), wholly owned
by SPIAA.
RATINGS RATIONALE
Moody's rating actions are in response to the divestment announced
17 May of 60% of SPIAA and 19.9% of SP AusNet to
State Grid International Development Limited ("State Grid",
unrated).
State Grid's parent company State Grid Corporation of China (Aa3
stable) has expressed strong commitment to its overseas investments as
it supports the corporate objective of increasing its global presence
and transferring its expertise in sophisticated, large scale power
distribution.
Upon completion of the proposed divestment -- subject to
the approval of regulatory authorities in Australia and China --
SP will retain 40% of SPIAA and 31.1% of SP AusNet.
As a result of the divestment, both SP AusNet and SPIAA will no
longer be consolidated in SP's financial statements.
"The divestment is credit positive for SP as, in addition
to enhancing liquidity, it will provide SP with the ability to materially
reduce leverage, such that FFO to interest would exceed 3.5x
and net debt/fixed assets would fall below 60%, on a consistent
basis," says Ray Tay, a Moody's Associate Vice
President -- Analyst. "The company has not yet announced
whether it intends to proceed with a debt reduction."
"The divestment will also reduce SP's exposure to Australia,
where new rules governing the revenue-setting process for the utilities
sector will challenge the sector's credit profile by reducing the
predictability of regulated revenue. SP's Australian assets currently
account for around 70% of the company's assets," says
Tay, also the lead analyst for SP and SPPA. "Because
SPPA's ratings benefit from uplift from SP and are also closely
linked to SP's rating, they would be upgraded if the latter
is upgraded," adds Tay.
Moody's further notes that the next electricity transmission and
distribution (T&D) tariff reset in Singapore was to have taken place
in April 2013, but no public announcement has been forthcoming.
Once the reset is finalized, Moody's will accordingly assess
the credit implications for both SPPA and SP.
Moody's review of SP and SPPA's ratings for upgrade will focus
on:
(i) successful receipt of regulatory approvals required to proceed with
the transaction
(ii) whether SP plans to utilize sale proceeds for debt repayment or to
pursue new investments, which may introduce new risks; and
(iii) the outcome of SPPA's tariff reset, which is expected
to be announced in July this year.
The review will also incorporate the forthcoming release of SP and SPPA's
full financial statements for FYE3/2013.
On the other hand, the review for downgrade of SP AusNet,
SPIAA and Jemena reflects Moody's view that the likelihood of shareholder
support for these entities will reduce following the divestment.
Currently, their ratings incorporate uplift, reflecting Moody's
assessment of support by SP, given their strategic importance within
the overall SP group. Whilst Moody's believes that State
Grid will also be a supportive owner, it may be difficult as a practical
matter for SP and State Grid to act in concert in the unlikely event that
the Australian entities experiencing distress. The existing uplift
may therefore no longer be appropriate.
Moody's review of SP AusNet, SPIAA and Jemena for downgrade
will therefore focus on:
(i) the strategic importance of these Australian entities to SP after
the divestment
(ii) the debt weighting -- for analytical purposes --
of the trust loans due by SPIAA to its shareholders after the transaction
(iii) the potential impact of any change of control clauses on the Australian
entities' liquidity profiles
(iv) an assessment of State Grid's willingness and capacity to support
its Australian subsidiaries after the acquisition.
Moody's expects to conclude its review in about three months.
SP is fully owned by Temasek Holdings (Private) Ltd (Aaa stable),
which in turn is a sovereign wealth fund of the Government of Singapore.
SP owns and manages Singapore's sole electricity T&D assets through
its fully owned subsidiaries, SPPA (assets owner) and SPPG (operator).
SPPA owns the country's electricity T&D assets, which include
29,000km of underground cables in Singapore. SP also provides
gas T&D services and market-support services, and holds
the group's interests in the Australian T&D businesses.
SP AusNet is a listed infrastructure entity based in Melbourne.
It owns (i) SPI Australia Group -- which owns one of Victoria's
electricity and gas distribution networks -- and (ii) SPI
PowerNet Pty Ltd (A1 RURD) -- which owns Victoria's electricity
transmission network.
SPIAA owns -- through wholly owned subsidiary Jemena Ltd -
a gas distribution network in NSW, electricity distribution network
in Victoria and 50% interest in ActewAGL's distribution businesses.
SPIAA also owns various other Australian gas pipelines and a 34%
interest in United Energy Distribution (Baa2 stable).
The methodologies used in these ratings were Regulated Electric and Gas
Networks published in August 2009, and Government-Related
Issuers: Methodology Update published in July 2010. Please
see the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com for a copy
of these methodologies.
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.
The below contact information is provided for information purposes only.
Please see the ratings tab of the issuer page at www.moodys.com,
for each of the ratings covered, Moody's disclosures on the
lead analyst and the Moody's legal entity that has issued the ratings.
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.
Ray Tay
Asst Vice President - Analyst
Infrastructure Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd.
50 Raffles Place #23-06
Singapore Land Tower
Singapore 48623
Singapore
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (65) 6398-8308
Patrick Mispagel
Associate Managing Director
Infrastructure Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (852) 3551-3077
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd.
50 Raffles Place #23-06
Singapore Land Tower
Singapore 48623
Singapore
JOURNALISTS: (852) 3758 -1350
SUBSCRIBERS: (65) 6398-8308
Moody's reviews Singapore Power and SP Power Assets for upgrade; and SP AusNet, SPI (Australia) Assets and Jemena for downgrade