Metinvest B.V., the parent company of a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies (“Metinvest”), announces that following the successful debt restructuring completed in March, international rating agencies Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) and Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”) have both upgraded Metinvest’s credit ratings to ‘Caa2’ (‘stable’ outlook) and ‘B’ (‘stable’ outlook), respectively.
According to a press release, Moody’s upgraded Metinvest’s Corporate Family Rating to ‘Caa2’ (‘stable’ outlook) from ‘Caa3’. This is constrained by Ukraine’s ‘Caa2’ country ceiling for foreign-currency debt. However, according to Moody’s steel industry grid based on Moody’s 12-18 month forward view as of March, the indicated rating from grid for Metinvest, if not constrained by Ukraine’s country ceiling, would be ‘Ba1’, seven notches above the current rating.
According to a press release published on April 6, Fitch upgraded Metinvest’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating to ‘B’ (‘stable’ outlook) from ‘RD’, which is one notch above Ukraine’s ‘B-‘ country ceiling. It also upgraded Metinvest’s Senior Secured rating to ‘B’.
Commenting on the event, Yuriy Ryzhenkov, Chief Executive Officer of Metinvest, said: “Following the recently completed debt restructuring, this independent assessment from international rating agencies confirms that the group’s liquidity situation is improving.” (SCM/Ukrainian metal)