Credit rating rationale. The issue represents senior unsecured debt of Gazprom Neft PJSC (hereinafter, the Company, or Gazprom Neft). Due to the absence of either structural or contractual subordination of the issue, ACRA ranks the bond pari passu with other existing and future unsecured and unsubordinated debt obligations of the Company. In accordance with the ACRA methodology, taking into account high creditworthiness and low leverage of the Company as well as absence of a substantial secured debt, the issue is rated AAA(RU), i.e. on par with Gazprom Neft PJSC.
The credit rating of Gazprom Neft is based on a very strong connection with the supporting institution by virtue of, among other things, cross default obligations, Company’s strong business profile, high level of corporate governance, very large scope of business and its high profitability, low leverage, and adequate debt servicing level. At the same time, Company’s liquidity level is assessed as medium, and cash flow figures are very weak in view of substantial capital expenditures and dividends paid.
Key issue properties
| Borrower | Gazprom Neft PJSC |
| Issuer’s credit rating | AAA(RU), outlook Stable |
| Actual issuer | Gazprom Neft PJSC |
| Type of security | Exchange-traded interest-bearing |
| Issue volume | RUB 25 bln |
| ISIN | RU000A0ZYXV9 |
| Final placement date | March 15, 2018 |
| Maturity date | March 7, 2024 |
Regulatory disclosure
The credit rating has been assigned under the national scale for the the Russian Federation and is based on 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 the Analytical Credit Rating Agency within the Scope of Its Rating Activities.
A credit rating has been assigned to 001P-06R series bond 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 (March 14, 2018).
The assigned credit rating is based on the data provided by Gazprom Neft PJSC, information from publicly available sources, as well as 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.
