Release: S&P: Santos rating unchanged on proposed purchase
Tuesday, March 9 2004 - 06:43 PM WIB
With adequate balance-sheet capacity and existing committed financing facilities, the ratings on Santos aren't affected by the proposed acquisition.
"Although the proposed acquisition will represent only a small proportion of Santos' assets and revenues should it be successful, it demonstrates Santos' willingness and appetite to develop assets in higher risk areas such as Indonesia," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Colin Atkin, associate director, Corporate & Infrastructure Finance Ratings.
"Even combined with Santos' existing Indonesian developments of Maleo and Oyong, revenues from the region will remain a small component of the group in the medium term. Should exposure to higher risk areas such as Indonesia become significant, Standard & Poor's will ascertain the risk mitigation tools that Santos will employ."
Santos is a midsize Australian-based oil and gas company, with operations spanning onshore and offshore gas and oil production in Australia, Indonesia, the Timor Sea, and the Texas Gulf Coast of the U.S. Although the ratings on Santos remain supported by reliable contracted-gas cash flows, Standard & Poor's expects the company to limit its exposure to any significant change it contemplates by embarking on only small unit/project investments in the near term, while maintaining robust credit-protection metrics and liquidity.
Should a significant development or acquisition be undertaken that materially changes Santos' business mix and/or financial profile, Standard & Poor's may review the ratings.(end of release)
Contact: Colin Atkin, Melbourne (61) 3-9631-2035
Peter Stephens, Melbourne (61) 3-9631-2078