FITCH RATES RUSSNEFT ‘B’ WITH A STABLE OUTLOOK
Moscow. December 21, 2017. Fitch Ratings has assigned PJSC Russneft a Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of 'B' with a Stable Outlook, according to a press release issued by the agency.
As noted by Fitch experts, the ratings of the company reflect the company’s moderately diversified portfolio of assets, proved reserve life of 23 years (around 1.1 billion barrels), low volatility of earnings, moderate operational and liquidity risks as well as a comfortable debt maturity profile and production growth capacity.
Russneft is a medium-sized Russian oil producer with upstream output of around 140 thousand barrels per day, excluding assets in Azerbaijan. Fitch expects the company to push up oil production to 165 thousand barrels /day by 2020.
The company’s operating profile corresponds to the ‘BB’ range, but Russneft’s high leverage is the main limiting factor. Russneft has the potential to deleverage in the nearest 2-4 years, which would result in a rating upgrade, the press release said.
As reported, the net profit under IRFS for 2016 amounted to RUB 14.9 billion. In 2017, the Company is planning to produce about 7 million tonnes of oil.