OJSC PhosAgro (PHOR)
Fitch Ratings Affirms PhosAgro's Investment Grade Credit Rating of
BBB-/Stable
01-Jul-2020 / 12:00 MSK
Dissemination of a Regulatory Announcement, transmitted by EQS Group.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
For Immediate Release 1 July 2020
Fitch Ratings Affirms PhosAgro's Investment Grade Credit Rating of
BBB-/Stable
Moscow - PhosAgro ("the Company", Moscow Exchange, LSE: PHOR), one of the
world's leading vertically-integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers,
announces that Fitch Ratings has affirmed its Long-Term Foreign- and
Local-Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) at BBB- with a Stable outlook.
In its announcement, Fitch Ratings noted the sustainability of PhosAgro's
business and its competitive advantages, including low cash cost of
production and its cadmium free phosphate deposits. The agency underscored
that PhosAgro generates significant operating cash flow even during periods
of market volatility, and it expects that over the next four years
PhosAgro's adjusted EBITDA margin will remain above 30%.
Fitch also expects PhosAgro's business sustainability to improve further in
the medium term as the company plans to increase the share of high-margin
complex fertilizers (NPKs), relative to less profitable DAP/MAP.
PhosAgro CEO Andrey Guryev commented: "We are constantly working to ensure
that PhosAgro can remain confident even during periods of significant
volatility and uncertainty. Investment grade credit ratings from the three
leading rating agencies confirm the effectiveness of our business model,
strategy and financial policy."
PhosAgro currently has three investment grade credit ratings:
Fitch: BBB-/Stable
S&P: BBB-/Stable
Moody's: Baa3/Stable
About the Company
PhosAgro is one of the world's leading vertically integrated phosphate-based
fertilizer producers in terms of production volumes of phosphate-based
fertilizers and high-grade phosphate rock with a P2O5 content of 39% and
higher.
The Company is the largest phosphate-based fertilizer producer in Europe (by
total combined capacity for DAP/MAP/NP/NPK/NPS), the largest producer of
high-grade phosphate rock with a P2O5 content of 39%, a top-three producer
of MAP/DAP globally, one of the leading producers of feed phosphates (MCP)
in Europe, and the only producer in Russia, and Russia's only producer of
nepheline concentrate (according to the RAFP).
PhosAgro's main products include phosphate rock, 50 grades of fertilizers,
feed phosphates, ammonia, and sodium tripolyphosphate, which are used by
customers in 102 countries spanning all of the world's inhabited continents.
The Company's priority markets outside of Russia and the CIS are Latin
America, Europe and Asia.
PhosAgro's shares are traded on the Moscow Exchange, and Global Depositary
Receipts (GDRs) for shares trade on the London Stock Exchange (under the
ticker PHOR). Since 1 June 2016, the Company's GDRs have been included in
the MSCI Russia and MSCI Emerging Markets indexes.
More information about PhosAgro can be found on the website: www.phosagro.ru
[1].
ISIN: US71922G2093
Category Code: MSCL
TIDM: PHOR
LEI Code: 25340053KRUNNYUWF472
Sequence No.: 73027
EQS News ID: 1083283
End of Announcement EQS News Service
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