Abu Dhabi National Energy Co., a utility whose bonds would be rated junk without government backing, wants to reduce its debt burden within five years so its investment-grade status is justified by operations alone.
“Our aim over the medium term is to pay down our debt so that we can take ourselves to a stand-alone investment-grade credit rating,” Chief Financial Officer Stephen Kersley said in an interview at his Abu Dhabi office on Dec. 10. “At the moment we’re an investment-grade credit, but on the back of government support. We want to get our underlying metrics to investment grade.”
Without backing from its 75 percent owner Abu Dhabi, Taqa would be regarded as junk, according to Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service. Instead, the utility is ranked A at S&P, the sixth-highest investment grade. Taqa, which last month bought stakes in North Sea oil fields from BP Plc (BP/), shaved 2.25 percentage points off its 10-year borrowing costs at a $1.25 billion bond sale this month, compared with a similar 2011 sale.
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