S&P affirms Anglo American

Standard & Poor's said it affirmed its A long-term and A-1 short-term corporate credit ratings on Anglo American plc, following the company's announcement of a planned demerger of paper and packaging business Mondi and a return of $5 billion of cash to shareholders.

The outlook is stable.

The affirmation reflects S&P's view that the planned Mondi demerger will be positive for Anglo's business risk profile through an improvement in group profitability and for its financial risk profile through the assumption of a portion of Anglo's debt.

The ratings on Anglo continue to reflect its strong business risk profile as the world's second-largest diversified metals and mining group and its modest financial risk profile, the agency said, noting that Anglo benefits from very strong market positions, including platinum, diamonds and coal.

These strengths are partly offset, however, by the inherently capital-intensive, cyclical and volatile nature of the industry, by Anglo's large minority shareholdings in some businesses and by its exposure to South Africa, S&P said.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.