Moody’s Investors Service has upgraded corporate family rating (CFR) and probability of default rating (PDR) of Metinvest B.V. (Metinvest) to B2 from B3. Concurrently, the rating outlooks on Metinvest’s ratings were revised to stable from positive, Moody’s has said in a press release.
The stable outlook on Metinvest’s ratings is in line with the stable outlook on Ukraine’s sovereign rating, and reflects Moody’s expectation that the company will sustain strong operating and financial performance for their rating level and will maintain healthy liquidity.
Metinvest has fairly broad goals of reducing environmental footprint and introducing more efficient energy-saving technologies in order to meet the best global standards in this area. In 2019, Metinvest spent around $384 million (2018: $263 million) in environmental projects, including $155 million of capital spending.
“Being a vertically integrated company, Metinvest takes responsibility for the whole production chain and continues to improve the environmental footprint of its segments,” Moody’s said.
The corporate governance risks are mitigated by the fact that Metinvest demonstrates a good level of public information disclosure, including a track record of regular public reporting of audited consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRS as well as quarterly operational reporting.
Metinvest Group is a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies that manages every link of the value chain, from mining and processing iron ore and coal to making and selling semi-finished and finished steel products. It comprises steel and mining production facilities located in Ukraine, Europe and the United States, as well as a sales network covering all key global markets.
