NTPC rated ‘BBB-‘

ntpc2 — *NTPC plant. A strong market position, says S&P.*

#S&P Global Ratings has assigned its ‘BBB-‘ long-term issue rating to #NTPC Ltd.’s proposed drawdown under its US$4 billion senior unsecured medium-term notes program.

The rating is subject to review of the final issuance documentation, said S&P in a statement on Jan 11, 2017.

“We expect India’s transparent regulatory environment for power and NTPC’s strong market position and increasing generation capacity to support the company’s business risk profile.

“Execution risk, increasing leverage, and the weak credit quality of NTPC’s major customers, state electricity utilities, offset these strengths,” said S&P.

The stable outlook on NTPC Ltd. (BBB-/Stable/–) reflects S&P’s expectation that the company’s ratio of funds from operations to debt is likely to stay above 9 per cent over the next 12-24 months.

“We anticipate the commissioning of new projects and revenue growth to offset the increase in debt for new capacity additions,” it said.

The rating on NTPC will move in tandem with the sovereign credit rating on India, it said. fii-news.com