Lietuvos Energija retained BBB+ credit rating

After the annual credit ratings review, the international credit rating agency S&P Global Ratings affirmed its BBB+ ratings for Lietuvos Energija.
 

The situation in the electricity and gas markets in 2018, higher prices of purchased electricity and natural gas and the regulatory differences arising from the specifics of the regulated activities, which will be compensated in the coming periods, had a negative impact on the results of Lietuvos Energija Group.
 

Due to the implementation of the strategic projects, the Group entered a heavy investment period last year and reached historically the highest annual investment flow. This was mainly due to the network modernization of the distribution systems operator Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius  and investments in the two CHP plants in Vilnius and Kaunas. These activities led to the revision of the credit rating outlook for Lietuvos Energija from stable to negative.
 

The negative outlook indicates the possibility of a downgrade over the next two years if there is no recovery in credit metrics.
 

“The retained BBB+ rating confirms that Lietuvos Energija Group is sound and financially secure. High financial capacity is one of the key preconditions for the implementation of an ambitious LE 2030 strategy. Currently, we are in the phase of heavy investment to the strategic projects, which leads to a change in the credit rating outlook for this period. The recovery of the credit rating outlook is possible after earning income from the investment made”, – Darius Kašauskas, Director of Finance and Treasury of Lietuvos Energija, comments.
 

The affirmed BBB+ credit rating is the highest among the peer companies in the Baltic States. Two years ago, in June 2017, Lietuvos Energija was granted with the BBB+ rating for the first time. The company was the first Lithuanian company to issue green bonds.