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Moody’s downgrades Eskom’s credit rating - BIESKM
Eskom Holdings SOC Limited
JSE Code: BIESKM
Date: 29 January 2018
MEDIA STATEMENT
Moody’s downgrades Eskom’s credit rating
Friday, 26 January 2018: Moody’s Investor Services (Moody’s) has downgraded to ‘B1
from Ba3’ the long-term corporate family rating (CFR) of Eskom; the zero coupon
eurobonds rating has similarly been revised to ‘B1’ from ‘Ba3’ in line with the CFR and the
global medium term note (GMTN) programme and the senior unsecured GMTNs of Eskom
have been downgraded to ‘(P)B2/B2 from (P)B1/B1’. All Moody’s ratings remain under
review for further downgrades.
While the rating agency views the recent interventions, including the appointment of the
Board by Deputy President Ramaphosa as favourable actions in bolstering the credit
quality of Eskom; Moody’s cited Eskom’s deteriorating liquidity and the ability of
Government to provide direct equity support to Eskom.
“We note the decision by Moody’s to downgrade the company’s rating; however we remain
resolute in our endeavours to progressively turn this company around. The liquidity
concerns raised by Moody’s are starting to dissipate as we are already seeing investors
and lenders revive their engagements and commitment to Eskom. We see this action by
Moody’s as a low point in the credit profile of Eskom and we are confident that we are on a
path to recovery; supported by the new Board, the governance and leadership at Eskom is
being stabilised to bolster the turnaround of the company”.
Commenting on Moody’s decision, Eskom’s Acting Chief Financial Officer, Calib Cassim
said, “We remain cautiously enthusiastic that we are geared towards improving the
company’s liquidity position and financial profile. We are acutely aware of the challenges
that Eskom is confronted with; however, we are confident that we are on the verge of
restoring a positive market sentiment that will assist with the execution of our funding
plan’.
ENDS
Issued by: Eskom Media Desk
Tel: +27 11 800 3304/3343/3378
Cell: +27 82 805 7278
Fax: 086 664 7699
Email: mediadesk@eskom.co.za
Date: 29/01/2018 11:15:00 Produced by the JSE SENS Department. The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the JSE Limited ('JSE').
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