ADNOC Affirmed Globally Industry-Leading Credit Ratings by Fitch

Business

December 21st, 6:25am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Fitch Ratings (Fitch) has affirmed ADNOC Group a standalone credit rating of AA+ - WAM

Fitch Ratings (Fitch) has affirmed ADNOC Group a standalone credit rating of AA+. According to Fitch, the rating reflects ADNOC’s high upstream production and vast oil reserves, very low cost of production, integration into downstream operations, very conservative financial policies, high financial flexibility and low leverage, and its strong unit profitability. In line with its Government-Related Entities (GRE) Rating Criteria and Parent and Subsidiary Linkage (PSL) Rating Criteria, Fitch also affirmed a Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of AA with a Stable Outlook to ADNOC, in line with the sovereign rating of Abu Dhabi, reflecting Fitch’s view of the strong links between ADNOC and the Abu Dhabi government. Both the standalone and Long-Term IDR rating remain the highest ratings currently assigned by Fitch for any oil and gas company, globally. Fitch also commended ADNOC’s successful strategy of bringing in minority partners into its operating companies to attract funding pools and improve access to international markets, state news agency WAM reported. Notably, the rating agency highlighted the fact that ADNOC raised $15.9 billion through a series of large-scale energy infrastructure transactions during 2020, led by a groundbreaking $20.7 billion transaction in select gas pipeline infrastructure assets with a consortium of leading global institutional investors, infrastructure operators and sovereign wealth and pension funds. This deal alone unlocked $10.1 billion in foreign direct investment into the UAE. Commenting on the credit rating affirmation, Jassem Mohammed Buatabh Al Zaabi, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Finance, said: "The affirmation of ADNOC’s standalone and Long-Term IDR ratings by Fitch is a testament to Abu Dhabi’s wise leadership and the efforts undertaken by ADNOC’s senior leadership to successfully navigate the company through the recent challenging period." Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi, Group Chief Financial Officer at ADNOC, said: "We are honored that our efforts over the past year to adapt to unprecedented market conditions have been recognized by Fitch, one of the leading, global credit rating agencies."

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2694901/adnoc-affirmed-globally-industry-leading-credit-ratings-fitch