Fitch lifts Endesa-Chile

Fitch Ratings said it upgraded Empresa Nacional de Electricidad SA's foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings and Yankee bonds to BBB+ from BBB, long-term national scale rating to AA(cl) from AA-(cl) and commercial paper national scale rating to F1+/AA(cl) from F1+/AA-(cl). The F1+ short-term rating and level 1 national equity rating were affirmed.

The outlook is stable.

The agency said the upgrade reflects the operational and financial improvement Endesa-Chile has achieved to date and incorporates the expectation that the company's cash flow will stabilize and that solid credit metrics will be maintained over the medium term.

Credit risks associated with the company include possible environmental and/or political issues that could result in cost overruns or modifications of projects under construction, regulatory uncertainties in Argentina and pressures from shareholder Enel SpA to increase dividends, Fitch said.

© 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.