Moody's alters Ecopetrol view to negative

Moody's Investors Service said it changed Ecopetrol SA’s outlook to negative from stable and affirmed its Baa3 senior unsecured ratings.

The agency said it based the outlook revision on Ecopetrol’s decision to fund the acquisition of 51.4% of Interconexion Electrica SA ESP's capital for about $3.67 billion with debt only. This figure is on top of the $6.1 billion in reported debt in Interconexion's balance sheet as of March 2021,

The added debt will hike Ecopetrol's financial leverage, and the related bridge loan has a two-year maturity, which creates refinancing risk. Moody’s, however, said it sees Ecopetrol reducing and refinancing the debt in the next 12-18 months with the help of robust prices for oil and gas.

“Ecopetrol originally planned to fund the acquisition with the sale of shares and assets and new debt,” Moody’s said in a press release.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.