REG - Kuwait ProjectCo SPC - Rating action by Moody’s Investors Service

Kian ShenAnnouncement

15/12/2023 13:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20231215:nRSO0148Xa&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 0148X  Kuwait Projects Co SPC Limited  15 December 2023

 

Kuwait Projects Co SPC Limited

Rating action by Moody's Investors Service (Moody's)

Kuwait Projects Company (Holding) K.S.C.P. (KIPCO), the Guarantor of Kuwait
Projects Co SPC Limited, announced that Moody's has downgraded its Corporate
Family Rating (CFR) to Ba3 from Ba2 and the Probability of Default Rating
(PDR) to Ba3-PD from Ba2-PD. Concurrently, Moody's downgraded to (P)Ba3 from
(P)Ba2 the provisional ratings assigned to the senior unsecured $3 billion
Euro Medium Term Note (EMTN) program issued by Kuwait Projects Co SPC Limited
and to Ba3 from Ba2 the ratings on the backed senior unsecured bonds due in
2026 and 2027 issued by Kuwait Projects Co SPC Limited. Moody's also affirmed
Kuwait Projects Co SPC Limited's (P)NP backed short term rating. The outlook
on all ratings remains negative.  Rating action reflects Moody's expectation
that KIPCO's market value leverage (MVL) will remain above 40%, which is
higher than what the rating agency originally anticipated.

KIPCO's Ba3 CFR continues to reflect (1) the portfolio of companies' strong
market positions in the financial services and chemicals industries within the
MENA region; (2) the historical track record of maintaining a strong liquidity
profile with the expectation of around $500 million in cash at holding level
as of December 2023 and the propensity to actively prefund debt maturities to
remove refinancing risk; (3) pro-active steps being taken by the KIPCO's
management to strengthen operating and financial performance of major
holdings; and (4) shareholder linkages with Kuwait's ruling family.

The ratings also capture (1) the high asset concentration with KIPCO's three
largest holdings making up close to 50% of KIPCO's investment portfolio value
(excluding cash); (2) capital reinvestment strategy within its subsidiaries
which results in low dividends up streamed and the expectation of a low FFO
interest coverage ratio at holdco level as of December 2023; and (3) the
geographical concentration in MENA, that has areas of heightened geopolitical
and macroeconomic risks.

 

For further information, please contact:

Investors, Press and Media:

Eman Al-Awadhi

49(th) Floor

KIPCO Tower, Khaled Bin Al-Waleed St, Sharq

P.O. Box 23982

Safat 13100

Kuwait

Tel: +965 2294 3416

Email: eman.alawadhi@kipco.com

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  UPDNKPBQDBDDCBD