Credit rating rationale. The issue is a senior unsecured debt of Gazprom Neft PJSC (hereinafter, the Company or the Issuer). In view of absence of structural or contractual subordination of the bond issue, ACRA assesses the bonds as ranked pari passu with other existing and future unsecured and unsubordinated debt of the Company. In accordance with ACRA methodology, taking into account high creditworthiness and low debt load of the Issuer, as well as absence of substantial secured debt, the Agency has applied a simplified approach, according to which the issue is rated AAA(RU), on par with Gazprom Neft PJSC.
The credit rating of the Company is based on a very strong connection with the supporting organization, caused by, among other things, a cross default obligations, Company’s strong business profile, high level of corporate governance, very large scope of business and its high profitability, low debt load and adequate debt servicing level. At the same time, Company’s liquidity is assessed as medium, and cash flow indicators are very weak in view of substantial capital expenditures and dividends paid.
Key issue properties
| Issuer | Gazprom Neft PJSC |
| Issuer’s credit rating | AAA(RU), outlook Stable |
| Actual issuer | Gazprom Neft PJSC |
| Type of security | Exchange-traded interest-bearing certified non-convertible bearer bonds subject to mandatory deposit, |
| Issue volume | RUB 10 billion |
| ISIN | RU000A0ZYLC4 |
| Issue date | December 21, 2017 |
| Maturity date | December 12, 2024 |
Regulatory disclosure
The credit rating has been assigned under the national scale for the Russian Federation based on the Methodology for Assigning Credit Ratings to Individual Issues of Financial Instruments under the National Scale of the Russian Federation, and the Key Concepts Used by Analytical Credit Rating Agency within the Scope of Its Rating Activities.
A credit rating has been assigned to the 001P-04R series bonds issued by Gazprom Neft PJSC for the first time. The credit rating is expected to be revised within one year following the rating action date (December 20, 2017).
The assigned credit rating is based on the data provided by Gazprom Neft PJSC, information from publicly available sources, and ACRA’s own databases. The credit rating is solicited, and Gazprom Neft PJSC participated in its assignment.
No material discrepancies between the provided data and the data officially disclosed by Gazprom Neft PJSC in its financial statements have been discovered.
ACRA provided additional services to Gazprom Neft PJSC. No conflicts of interest were discovered in the course of credit rating assignment.
