S&P downgrades Eni

Standard & Poor’s said it lowered the long-term corporate credit ratings on Eni SpA to A- from A, along with its short-term corporate credit ratings to A-2 from A-1.

The outlook is stable.

S&P also said it lowered the long-term issue rating on Eni’s senior unsecured debt to A- from A.

The agency also said it removed all of the ratings from CreditWatch negative, where they were placed in December 2014.

S&P also said it believes that low oil and gas prices will persist in the next couple of years, which will result in squeezed profits and continued negative discretionary cash flow, despite management’s actions to curb dividends and reduce costs and capital expenditures.

Eni performed soundly in 2014, the agency said, and materially better than in 2013. This was achieved, however, in the context of a Brent price close to $100 per barrel on average, S&P said.

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