Molto diversa la rating action di Fitch rispetto alla vicenda Gas Natural Union Fenosa. Fitch ritiene che il successo nella raccolta di 3,5 mld euro di capitali freschi mediante l'emissione di nuove azioni, la riduzione del prezzo concordata per Union Fenosa ed una prima dismissione operata con successo per fare cassa inducano a pensare che il leverage di Gas natural nel prossimo bienni possa essere meno elevato di quanto inizialmente preventivato.
Il rischio legato al rifinanziamento delle scadenze debitorie a ai ricavi che verranno effettivamente dalle previste dismissioni di asset giustificano per Fitch solo una riduzione dell'outlook a negativo, anche in virtù di un business profile connotato da elementi (basso rischio legato all'andamento dei prezzi del gas per le centrali di generazione elettrica, contratti di lungo termine, regime tariffario favorevole) che rendono molto stabile l'andamento futuro dell'attività dell'emittente.
Fitch Affirms Gas Natural at 'A-' on Fenosa Acquisition; Outlook Negative
04 Jun 2009 11:05 AM (EDT)
Fitch Ratings-London/Barcelona-04 June 2009: Fitch Ratings has today affirmed Gas Natural SDG's (Gas Natural) Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'A-' and its Short-term IDR at 'F2', following the acquisition of 95% of Union Fenosa, SA (Fenosa). The agency has also affirmed Gas Natural Finance BV's senior unsecured rating at 'A'. Issues under Gas Natural Finance BV's EMTN programme are guaranteed by Gas Natural. Gas Natural's euro commercial paper programme is affirmed at 'F2'. All ratings have been taken off Rating Watch Negative (RWN) and a Negative Outlook has been assigned to the Long-term IDR.
Fenosa's ratings have also been affirmed at Long-term IDR 'A-' with Negative Outlook and at Short-term IDR 'F2'. A full list of ratings is detailed below.
The affirmation of Gas Natural's ratings reflects the lower-than-expected negative impact of the Fenosa acquisition on the combined group's pro-forma financial profile. This is because of Gas Natural's successful EUR3.5bn equity issue, the lower acquisition price for Fenosa of EUR15.6bn versus EUR16.8bn previously expected, and asset disposals (sale of Cepsa and Enagas stakes totalling EUR597m).
"Following these events, we now expect that, despite the current difficult trading environment, pro-forma leverage at YE09 and YE10 will be lower than previously assumed," says Josef Pospisil, Director in Fitch's EMEA Energy, Utilities and Regulation team in London.
Fitch expects Gas Natural, among other aspects, to continue to benefit from regulated and stable gas and electricity distribution revenue streams and from a flexible electricity generation fleet backed by a portfolio of competitive long-term gas purchase agreements.
A significant part of Gas Natural's gas purchase prices for its gas-fired power plants are linked to the Spanish pool price, effectively transferring price risk to the gas suppliers. Thanks to its own fleet of liquefied natural gas tankers, the company enjoys the flexibility to reroute its gas supplies according to demand and price patterns.
This relatively low comparative operating risk, coupled with an expected pro forma initial leverage of around 4.0x at YE09, reducing to 3.0x by YE11, are commensurate with the current ratings.
The Negative Outlook is predicated on continued uncertainty regarding debt refinancing in the next two years (the current debt maturity profile has a significant spike of EUR10bn in 2011), further asset sales (EUR2.9bn), the integration of Fenosa and delivery of financial metrics as expected.
The company is expected to weather the current recession well, although Fitch would not rule out a downgrade if the recession is more protracted and leads to a sharper adverse impact on the group than expected.
The following ratings of Fenosa are also affirmed:
Issues from Union Fenosa Finance, B.V. and Union Fenosa Emisiones, S.A. which both benefit from a guarantee by Fenosa - rated senior unsecured 'A'. Union Fenosa Financial Services USA, LLC's 2003 hybrid securities and Union Fenosa Preferentes S.A.;'s 2005 hybrid securities - also both guaranteed by Fenosa - rated 'A-' and 'BBB+', respectively.
Fenosa's ratings are in line with those of Gas Natural as per Fitch's Parent and Subsidiary Rating Linkage criteria report of 19 June 2007 (available on
www.fitchratings.com). It is expected that Fenosa will legally merge with Gas Natural by September 2009, following which Fitch will withdraw Fenosa's ratings.
Outstanding obligations of Fenosa will become Gas Natural's obligations after the merger and bondholder approval (the latter is due in June 2009).