ANNOUNCEMENT
PPC S.A. announces the upgrading of its credit rating by Standard & Poor’s by 3 notches to B from CCC and with a stable outlook. With this upgrading, the strategic choices and achievements of the Company, over the last years, are being recognized, while at the same time, the Company’s creditworthiness is being strengthened in and outside Greece.
As mentioned in S&P’s report, the rationale for the upgrading is mainly based on:
• “the finalization of a €2.2 billion five-year syndicated loan facility with a consortium of Greek banks, for the refinancing of its bank loans and the signing of two credit facilities with the European Investment Bank and a syndicate of foreign banks led by KfW”, and
• “seeing no substantial refinancing risk until 2019, which affords PPC time to sustainably improve its profitability and to strengthen its capital structure”.
Furthermore, S&P states that the stable outlook for PPC “reflects the outlook for Greece and S&P’s expectation that PPC will consolidate its business risk and financial risk profiles over the two coming years.”
Finally, S&P refers to “PPC’s solid relationships with Greek banks, as reflected by the recent refinancing” and their “view of management as generally prudent”.
Athens, April 7, 2014