S&P rates EnQuest notes B

Standard & Poor's said it assigned a B+ long-term corporate credit rating to EnQuest plc.

The agency also said it assigned a rating of B to the proposed $500 million senior unsecured notes due in 2022 to be issued by EnQuest.

The recovery rating on these notes is 5, indicating 10% to 30% expected default recovery.

The ratings reflect the group's significant financial risk profile and weak business risk profile, S&P said.

The outlook is stable.

The ratings reflect an expectation that EnQuest will de-leverage following a peak in adjusted debt-to-EBITDA of about 2.4x at year-end 2014, the agency said.

De-leveraging is expected to be supported by the already-solid contribution of existing producing assets, S&P said, as well as new assets ramping up production.

EnQuest's business risk profile and competitive position are considered weak due to the company's limited scale of production, the agency said.

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