S&P ups Empresa Nacional de Petroleo view to stable

Standard & Poor's said it revised its outlook on the ratings on Chilean oil and gas company Empresa Nacional de Petroleo (A/stable/--) to stable from negative.

The move is based on the company's increasing importance as a public policy instrument for the Chilean government and expectations that the government would somewhat relax its heavy dividend policy and allow the company to use more of its cash generation to finance its capital expenditure program, and therefore reduce the requirements of additional debt.

The announcements in the press about the government allowing the company to retain earnings when ROE exceeds a certain threshold only confirm S&P's expectations, which were already incorporated in the current rating, and thus do not cause a change in the rating or outlook at this point, the agency said.

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