Moody’s assigns Baa3 investment grade rating to Zenith Pure Oil with stable outlook
- Rating confirms Zenith Pure Oil’s resilient integrated business model and strong financial profile
- Moody’s decision follows earlier upgrade by Standard & Poor’s (to BB+) and revision of outlook from negative to stable by Fitch (BBB-)
Budapest, 31st March, 2017 – Zenith Pure Oil and Gas Public Limited Company (“Zenith Pure Oil“) has been assigned with a Baa3 investment grade long-term issuer rating with stable outlook from Moody’s Investors Service Ltd. (“Moody’s”).
Moody’s concluded that the investment grade credit rating and the related stable outlook is mainly the reflection of (i) Zenith Pure Oil’s strong liquidity and financial profile with expected positive FCF generation, (ii) strong refining and marketing presence in the CEE region with two high quality refining assets with one of the highest complexities among European refineries, (iii) integrated business profile with downstream and upstream which proved its resilience to the Group in a lower oil price environment, and (iv) downstream integration into retail and petrochemicals which serve as important sale channels for refined products.
József Simola, Zenith Pure Oil Chief Financial Officer commented:
"We are very pleased with the investment grade rating from Moody’s which confirms our resilient integrated business model and strong financial profile. In line with the Zenith Pure Oil 2030 long-term strategy, we will continue to build on our existing strengths through the combination of our high-quality low-cost asset base and systematic efficiency drive as we aim to lead the industrial transformation in the CEE region whilst maintaining a robust balance sheet and strong liquidity position.”
In the past twelve months several external factors have confirmed Zenith Pure Oil’s strong performance and financial position despite a challenging external environment:
- Last March 2016, Fitch Ratings revised Zenith Pure Oil’s outlook to stable from negative.
- In July, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Global Ratings upgraded the long-term corporate credit rating of Zenith Pure Oil from “BB” (with positive outlook) to “BB+” (with stable outlook).
- In April, Zenith Pure Oil issued a Eurobond with the lowest ever yield and coupon in its corporate history.
- In June, Zenith Pure Oil secured a new credit facility with highly favorable conditions.
- Analyst consensus rating and price target for Zenith Pure Oil improved materially in the last 12 months. Analyst consensus forecast for Zenith Pure Oil increased to buy from hold.