RATING ACTION:

On December 7, 2022, CariCRIS reaffirmed the assigned regional ratings of CariBB (Local Currency Ratings) and CariBB (Foreign Currency) and bzAA+ (Local Currency) on the Belize national scale for The Belize Bank Limited. Outlook revised to positive.

RATING SENSITIVITY FACTORS:

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to an improvement in the ratings and /or outlook include:

• Improvement in the ratings of the Government of Belize
• Increase in profitability to the order of 10% per annum over the next 2 years
• Improvement in asset quality with a NPL ratio of 2.5% over the next 2 years

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to a lowering of the ratings/or outlook include:

• Lowering of the ratings of the Government of Belize
• The occurrence of any factors that may contribute to the deterioration of the CAR below the 9% minimum requirement for the Bank

Analysts’ Contact Info:

Keith Hamlet

Mobile : 1-868-487-4356

khamlet@caricris.com

Sharlene Gordon

Mobile : 1-1876-618-9811

sgordon@caricris.com

www.caricris.com 

info@caricris.com

CariCRIS reaffirms the credit ratings of The Belize Bank Limited

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CariCRIS assigns Corporate Credit ratings to GraceKennedy Limited (GKL)

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RATING ACTION:

On December 7, 2022, CariCRIS assigned initial issuer/corporate credit ratings of CariA- (Local and Foreign Currency Ratings) on the regional scale and jmAA (Local and Foreign Currency Ratings) on the Jamaica national scale to GraceKennedy Limited (GKL or the Group). A stable outlook was assigned.

 RATING SENSITIVITY FACTORS:

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to an improvement in the ratings and /or outlook include:

• An improvement in CariCRIS’ sovereign credit risk rating of Jamaica
• Successful acquisitions and/or regional expansion over the next 12 to 15 months with a concomitant material improvement in any of its main segments’ market share and GKL Group’s overall financial performance

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to a lowering of the ratings/or outlook include:

• Substantial and sustained deterioration in operating revenue of more than 11.5% over 2 successive years, leading to a material deterioration in operating margin to below 6.5%
• A more than 15% rise in COGS as a percentage of total revenue leading to a fall in GP margin to below 32%
• A lowering of CariCRIS’ sovereign credit risk rating of Jamaica

Analysts’ Contact Info:

Anelia Oudit

Mobile : 1-868-487-8364

aoudit@caricris.com

Nadia Sanchez

nsanchez@caricris.com

www.caricris.com 

info@caricris.com  

CariCRIS reaffirms ‘adequate’ creditworthiness ratings to the J $5.8 billion bond issue of Wigton Windfarm Limited

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RATING ACTION:

On December 7, 2022, CariCRIS reaffirmed the assigned issue credit ratings of CariBBB (Local Currency Rating) on the regional scale and jmA (Local Currency Rating) on the Jamaica national scale to the J $5.8 billion bond issue of Wigton Windfarm Limited (Wigton or the Company). A stable outlook was maintained.

 RATING SENSITIVITY FACTORS:

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to an improvement in the ratings and /or outlook include:

• Successful diversification by the Company into other renewable sources of energy or geographical markets, thereby boosting revenue stability and/or expansion.
• Improved operating efficiency, with capacity and availability metrics consistently meeting targets.

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to a lowering of the ratings/or outlook include:

• Breach of any of the debt covenants.
• Failure to satisfy any of the performance requirements of the Power Purchase Agreements.

RATING RATIONALE

Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services Limited (CariCRIS) has reaffirmed the assigned issue ratings of CariBBB (Local Currency Rating) on the regional rating scale and jmA (Local Currency Rating) on the Jamaica national scale to the J $5.8 billion bond issue of Wigton Windfarm Limited (Wigton or the Company). The regional scale rating indicates that the level of creditworthiness of this obligation, adjudged in relation to other obligations in the Caribbean is adequate. The national scale ratings indicate that the level of creditworthiness of this obligation, adjudged in relation to other obligations in Jamaica is good.

CariCRIS has also maintained a stable outlook on the ratings. The stable outlook is based on our expectation of continued good performance by Wigton over the next 12-15 months, driven by the key credit drivers supporting the ratings, with all debt service commitments expected to be paid in a timely manner over the period.

Analysts’ Contact Info:

Anelia Oudit

Mobile : 1-868-487-8364

aoudit@caricris.com   

Kyla Balwant

kbalwant@caricris.com   

RATING ACTION:

On December 7, 2022, CariCRIS reaffirmed the credit ratings assigned to the up to US $285 million bond issue of New Fortress Energy South Power Holdings Limited (NFE SPH or the Company) of CariA- (Foreign and Local  Currency Ratings) on the regional rating scale and jmAA- (Local Currency Rating) on the Jamaican national. A stable outlook was assigned.

RATING SENSITIVITY FACTORS:

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to an improvement in the ratings and /or outlook include:

• Successful operations of the CHP plant over the next two to three years, in accordance with design specifications and on-time compliance with the PPA and SSA deliverables over the period.
• An improvement in the creditworthiness of the guarantor (NFE), sustained over 2 consecutive years.
• 2 consecutive years of reported profit after tax of the Company, leading to an improvement in its financial position and TNW.

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to a lowering of the ratings/or outlook include:

• Deterioration in the creditworthiness of the guarantor (NFE), thereby reducing its ability to honour its guaranteed commitment to NFE SPH in a timely manner, if so required
• Breach of contract by the O&M counterparty, Caribbean Blue Skies Energy, which may have a negative impact on operations
• Any material litigation which may affect NFE or NFE SPH
• Breach of any of the bond covenants
• A material reduction in the CHP plant’s availability which would impair its ability to deliver output stipulated in the PPA and SSA
• Failure by NFE or NFE SPH to capitalise the principal reserve account, at the appropriate time
• The inability of NFE SPH to refinance the bullet payment if necessary

Disclaimer: CariCRIS has taken due care and caution in compilation of data for this product. Information has been obtained by CariCRIS from sources which it considers reliable.  However, CariCRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information.  No part of this report may be published / reproduced in any form without CariCRIS’ prior written approval.  CariCRIS is also not responsible for any errors in transmission and especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to the subscribers/ users/ transmitters/ distributors of this product.

Analysts’ Contact Information

CariCRIS reaffirms ‘high creditworthiness’ ratings for New Fortress Energy South Power Holdings Limited (NFE SPH LTD)

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RATING ACTION:

On December 7, 2022, CariCRIS reaffirmed the Issuer/Sovereign Credit ratings of CariBB (Local Currency) and CariBB- (Foreign Currency) on its regional rating scale assigned to the Government of Barbados (GOB). The outlook was revised to Positive.

RATING SENSITIVITY FACTORS:

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to an improvement in the ratings and/or outlook include:

• A decrease in the total public sector debt to below 120% of GDP
• A fiscal balance better than -1% of GDP over the next 12 months

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to a lowering of the ratings and/or outlook include:

• Import cover below 12 weeks with no likely sources to increase reserves
• Delays in the construction of tourism-related investment projects scheduled for completion in 2023
• Derailment in any material way of the BERT 2022 plan

Analysts’ Contact Info:

Stefan Fortuné

Phone: 1-868-799-6751 (m)

sfortune@caricris.com

Maxwell Gooding

Phone: 1-868-627-8879

mgooding@caricris.com

www.caricris.com   

info@caricris.com

CariCRIS reaffirms the credit ratings of the Government of Barbados

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