S&P affirms BBB+ rating for Reliance Industries
Apr 29, 2020
Singapore, April 29 : Standard & Poor's (S&P) Global Ratings has affirmed BBB-plus long-term corporate credit rating on Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) with a stable outlook.
The rating company has also affirmed BBB-plus long-term issuer credit rating on the company's outstanding debt.
"The stable outlook reflects our expectation that RIL's strengthening cash flows amid disciplined spending will improve its debt-to-EBITDA ratio toward 2.0x over the next 12 to 24 months," said S&P.
"We assume the company will primarily use proceeds from the 9.99 per cent stake sale in Jio Platforms for deleveraging," it said in a research update.
S&P said it expects the operating performance of RIL to remain resilient over the next two years, driven by the company's prominent domestic market position in the digital and retail segments.
In August last year, RIL had received a non-binding letter of intent from Saudi Aramco for acquiring 20 per cent stake in RIL's oil-to-chemicals business.
"We have not assumed any potential asset monetisation in our base case. However, we believe the finalisation of the Aramco deal will be credit positive for RIL, provided the company largely uses the proceeds to lower its debt," said S&P.
On Monday, the company said it will consider a rights issue at its board meeting on April 30, in what will be its first such issue in nearly three decades.
