DBRS lowers Andarko, Kerr-McGee views to negative

DBRS said it confirmed Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s issuer rating at BBB, along with the senior unsecured notes and debentures ratings of Anadarko and Kerr-McGee Corp. at BBB.

DBRS also said it changed the trends to negative from stable.

Because of the sharp and steep decline in oil and gas prices, Anadarko’s key credit metrics for the last 12 months ending Sept. 30 have weakened considerably and are now less than the BBB threshold, the agency said.

DBRS added that the company has the flexibility to respond to pricing pressures and has sharply curtailed capital spending and sold assets.

Furthermore, the company has sufficient liquidity and a low-cost production base sourced from a diverse portfolio of producing assets mainly from key basins in the United States to withstand a period of weak pricing, the agency said.

S&P downgrades Abengoa

Standard & Poor’s said it lowered the long-term corporate credit rating on Abengoa SA to SD (selective default) from CCC-, along with its short-term corporate credit rating to SD from C.

The agency also said it affirmed the rating on the senior unsecured notes issued by Abengoa, Abengoa Finance SAU and Abengoa Greenfield SA at CCC-. The recovery rating on these notes was unchanged at 4, indicating 30% to 50% expected default recovery.

The downgrades reflect Abengoa’s failure to pay scheduled maturities under its €750 million euro commercial-paper program.

On Dec. 10, Abengoa said it is undergoing a debt-restructuring process that caused it to temporarily suspend certain financial commitments, S&P said.

Abengoa confirmed that none of the above-mentioned unpaid amounts are larger than the group’s cross-default materiality threshold of €30 million, the agency said.

S&P said it believes the group has not defaulted on any coupon due under its rated senior unsecured notes.

S&P downgrades Magnum Hunter

Standard & Poor’s said it lowered the corporate credit rating on Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. to D from CCC-.

The agency also said it lowered the rating on the company’s second-lien term loan to D from CCC and issue-level rating on its senior unsecured debt to D from C.

The recovery rating on the second-lien debt remains at 2, reflecting 70% to 90% expected default recovery.

The recovery rating on the senior notes remains at 6, reflecting 0 to 10% expected default recovery.

The downgrades follow news that Magnum Hunter filed voluntary petitions for restructuring under Ch. 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, S&P said.

Magnum Hunter also announced its entry into a restructuring support agreement with lenders that hold, in the aggregate, about 75% of the company’s debt, the agency said.

The restructuring support agreement provides for debtor-in-possession financing in the form of a $200 million senior secured term loan that will be backstopped by lenders who are parties to the agreement, S&P said.

The restructuring agreement contemplates the debt-to-equity conversion of substantially all of the company’s debt upon emergence from the bankruptcy process, the agency added.

Moody’s drops Magnum Hunter, loan, notes

Moody's Investors Service said it downgraded Magnum Hunter Resources Corp.’s probability of default rating to D-PD from Caa3-PD, corporate family rating to Ca from Caa3, senior secured second-lien term loan rating to Ca from B3 and senior unsecured note rating to C from Ca.

The negative outlook and the SGL-4 speculative grade rating were maintained.

These actions were prompted by a Dec. 15 announcement that Magnum Hunter and certain of its wholly owned subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the state of Delaware.

Moody’s drops Ultrapetrol CFR, notes to Caa3

Moody's Investors Service said it downgraded Ultrapetrol (Bahamas) Ltd.'s corporate family rating and $225 million 8 7/8% notes due 2021 to Caa3 from Caa1.

The liquidity rating was affirmed at SGL-4, reflecting a continued weak liquidity profile given near-term debt maturities in 2016.

The outlook remains negative.

Moody’s said the downgrades are due to the company's announcement that it decided to not make its $10 million notes interest payment due Dec. 15, as well as the interest and principal payments on its other loan facilities as the company continues negotiations with noteholders and bank lenders.

Ultrapetrol has a 30-day grace period under its notes indentures to make the missed interest payment before it triggers an event of default. If the notes payment is not made within the 30-day cure period and/or the interest and principal payments on the company's other loan facilities are not made within their applicable grace periods, Moody's said it will likely consider these events a default or limited default.

Fitch lifts Bank of Ireland, Allied Irish

Fitch Ratings said it upgraded Bank of Ireland’s long-term issuer default rating to BBB- from BBB-, along with its short-term issuer default rating of F3 from B.

The agency also upgraded Allied Irish Banks plc’s long-term issuer default rating to BB+ from BB. Allied Irish’s short-term issuer default rating also was affirmed at B.

The outlook is positive.

The upgrades reflect on-going improvements in these banks’ asset quality, business prospects, profitability and capitalization, Fitch said.

Asset quality is a factor considered to be of high importance for both banks’ ratings, the agency added.

But, both banks continue to hold large stocks of impaired and other problem loans, Fitch said.

While the agency said it believes the banks are comfortably reserved, the problem loans remain high as a proportion of overall lending.

Moody’s changes New World view to negative

Moody's Investors Service said it affirmed the Caa3 corporate family rating and Caa3-PD probability of default rating of New World Resources NV, as well as the Caa2 rating of the €300 million senior secured notes due in 2020.

Concurrently, the agency changed the outlook to negative.

Moody’s said the change of the outlook to negative reflects its expectation that New World’s credit metrics and liquidity are likely to deteriorate further in 2016, due to a still very challenging outlook on thermal coal and, to a lesser extent, on coking coal, which the rating agency believes cannot be sufficiently mitigated by ongoing management actions.

The outlook is also consistent with the agency’s negative fundamental view on the coal sector over the next 12 to 18 months, which prompted the rating agency to revise further down its price assumptions for both metallurgical coal and thermal coal, whose average prices are now assumed at $80/t and $55/t respectively for 2016 – lower levels compared to the average 2015 levels.

DBRS: Banco Bilbao Vizcaya view to positive

DBRS said it confirmed Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, SA’s issuer and senior debt rating at A, subordinated debt rating at A (low) and short-term instruments rating at R-1 (low).

The trend was changed to positive from stable.

The bank’s intrinsic assessment was maintained at A.

The positive trend primarily reflects consistent improving fundamentals, including core profitability and asset quality in Spain, the group’s core market, DBRS said.

The positive trend also considers the group’s franchise strength in Spain and the ongoing economic recovery in Spain, the agency said.

Moody’s could lower U.S. E&P companies

Moody's Investors Service said it placed the ratings of several U.S. exploration and production (E&P) companies and their rated subsidiaries on review for downgrade.

The companies include: Anadarko Finance Co.; Anadarko Petroleum Corp.; Antero Resources Corp.; Apache Corp.; Apache Finance Canada Corp.; Apache Finance Canada II Corp.; Denbury Resources Inc.; EP Energy LLC; EQT Corp.; Hess Corp.; Hilcorp Energy I, LP; Hunt Oil Co.; Kerr-McGee Corp.; National Fuel Gas Co.; Occidental Petroleum Corp.; Pioneer Natural Resources Co.; SM Energy Co.; Union Pacific Resources Group Inc.; Unit Corp.; WPX Energy, Inc.; Burlington Resources Finance Co.; Burlington Resources, Inc.; Cimarex Energy Co.; Concho Resources Inc.; Conoco Funding Co.; ConocoPhillips; ConocoPhillips Canada Funding Co. I; ConocoPhillips Canada Funding Co. II; ConocoPhillips Canada Resources Ltd.; ConocoPhillips Co.; ConocoPhillips Qatar Funding Ltd.; Continental Resources, Inc.; Energen Corp.; EOG Resources, Inc.; Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp.; Louisiana Land & Exploration Co.; Marathon Oil Corp.; Murphy Oil Corp.; Newfield Exploration Co.; Noble Energy, Inc.; Polar Tankers, Inc.; QEP Resources, Inc.; Range Resources Corp.; Southwestern Energy Co.; Tosco Corp.; and Whiting Petroleum Corp.

"Industry conditions have weakened further with oil and natural gas prices at multi-year lows," Moody's senior vice president Pete Speer said in a news release.

"E&P companies will be stressed for a longer period with much lower cash flows, difficulty selling assets and limited capital markets access."

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