Moody’s Downgrades NIG Ratings Over Risk Profile
Moody’s Investors Service on 9 August downgraded to B3 with a stable outlook from B2 with a negative outlook the Corporate Family Rating (CFR) and Probability of Default Rating (PDR) of Kuwait’s National Industries Group Holding (NIG), as well as the instrument rating for the $475mn sukuk issued by NIG Sukuk Ltd. In a statement, Moody’s said that the conglomerate has taken steps recently to reduce its exposure to refinancing risk by renegotiating on a longer term basis some short term credit facilities in conjunction with looking to refinance the August 2012 sukuk maturity. The statement added that the NIG downgrade “reflects a combination of factors that include (i) the execution risk associated with the steps still to be taken in anticipation of the sukuk maturity in 12 months time to ensure a strengthening of its overall risk profile and a reduction of the group’s default risk combined with the fact that (ii) it may take some time for NIG to strengthen its current financial profile, where Moody’s anticipates that some of its key credit metrics will remain more in line with a single B credit profile over the next 18-24 months.”
Based in Kuwait, NIG is a publicly listed investment holding company and one of the largest publicly traded companies in the domestic market. Its business includes strategic and financial stakes in companies across Kuwait, the GCC and Europe, focusing primarily on the building materials, specialist engineering, petrochemicals, finance, real estate, oil and gas services and energy sectors.
Copyright MEES 2011.
