Fitch affirms Adani Electricity Mumbai’s ‘BBB-’ rating

New Delhi: Fitch Ratings on Monday affirmed the credit rating of Adani Electricity Mumbai, saying the Hindenburg Research report alleging governance issues at the Adani group has a limited near-term impact on the company’s cost of funding.

In a statement, the rating agency said, it has affirmed the ‘BBB-’ rating on Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd (AEML) US dollar senior secured notes due 2030.

It has also affirmed AEML’s $2-billion global medium-term note programme and notes issued under the programme at ‘BBB-’. ‘BBB’ indicates investment grade rating with relatively higher credit risk.

The affirmation reflects Fitch’s view that the Hindenburg report alleging governance issues at the Adani group has a limited near-term impact on AEML’s cost of funding and access at the current rating level, it stated.

High cash-flow visibility from regulated assets, regulator-approved capex and an adequate liquidity position with no significant debt maturity till February 2030 further support AEML’s financial flexibility, it explained.

“We expect AEML’s credit metrics to have adequate headroom based on our conservative rating-case assumptions,” the agency said.

However, “we have lowered AEML’s management and corporate governance assessment under our criteria in the ratings navigator to ‘bb+’,” it said.