Ratings agency Fitch lowers Pemex's rating to negative outlook
Risk rating agency Fitch Ratings reported this Friday the downgrade of the company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) to BB from BB + due to the continued deterioration of the company's independent credit.
"This day's downgrade is a reflection of the continuing deterioration of the credit profile in the midst of the global recession of the oil and gas industry," the rating agency said in disclosing its note on the Mexican company.
He noted that the low price of oil and the weakening of the credit link between Pemex and the Government of Mexico shows that the company has limited flexibility to face the recession in the oil and gas industry.
Fitch explained that the negative outlook is a reflection of Pemex's financial vulnerability in the current situation of depressed oil prices and its need for extraordinary and proactive government support.
This limitation, given its high tax burden, high leverage, increased extraction costs per barrel of crude, the high investment needed to maintain production and replenish reserves.
The rating agency stressed that Pemex does not generate enough cash flow to cover operating and financial costs of more than $ 25 per barrel of crude oil, and everything indicates that in the future it will need extraordinary support from the Mexican government.
In the wake of the coronavirus and oil crisis, all forecasts that anticipated a slight growth in Mexican GDP in 2020 have been cut short, and instead, forecasts for a contraction from 2% accumulate, such as Standard & Poor's , to some who predict falls above 5%.
Fitch Ratings' determination was added to the decision last week by the rating agency Standar & Poor's that cut Pemex's rating to BBB from BBB +, which keeps the company one notch from losing the investment grade.
In addition to Pemex's rating, S&P downgraded Mexico's long-term foreign currency debt risk rating from BBB + to BBB, maintaining a negative outlook due to the impact of COVID-19 and falling oil prices.
The Mexican agency HR Ratings this week lowered Mexico's sovereign debt rating to BBB + level and kept the outlook "negative", before an economy that could be "significantly affected in the short and medium term."
