27th Apr 2020 06:55
(Alliance News) - Moody's Investors Service on Friday affirmed all ratings of Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto PLC including its A2 senior unsecured and Prime-1 short term ratings.
The outlook on the company's ratings was kept at Stable.
"The affirmation of the Rio Tinto group's ratings reflects the resiliency of the company's performance in weaker price environments, particularly its iron ore operations which are the driving force in revenue, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, and cash flow generation," said Carol Cowan, Moody's senior vice president and lead analyst for the Rio Tinto.
The company's excellent liquidity position also supports the ratings in this environment of deteriorating global economic conditions, the ratings agency said.
Moody's A2 ratings for companies within the Rio Tinto group considers a number of key attributes including its large scale and low-cost operations across its major segments, particularly its iron ore operations in Australia, diversity of mineral and metals exposures and leading positions in a number of these, and geographical diversity.
"Rio Tinto's operating scale, productivity enhancements, cost profile and strong balance sheet provide resilience to market volatility. This, combined with financial discipline evidenced through changes in its dividend policy and debt reduction in recent years, together with a very strong earnings performance in 2019 has allowed for meaningful improvement in the group's debt protection metrics and leverage position," Moody's explained.
Rio Tinto shares in London closed at 3,750.00 pence each in London on Friday, down 0.9%.
By Tapan Panchal; [email protected]
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