Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) revised Vale’s global and national scale ratings to stable from negative, it said this week.
According to S&P, Vale’s global scale corporate credit ratings and issue-level ratings on bonds issued through Vale Canada Ltd., Vale Overseas Ltd., and PT Vale Indonesia Tbk, were affirmed at BBB-.
As for Vale’s national scale ratings, S&P affirmed it at brAAA.
“Currently favorable metals prices are yielding additional cash flows for Brazil-based miner Vale, lessening leverage pressures,” it said, while explaining the company’s ratings.
According to S&P, higher prices should also help it leverage ratios stemming from its “aggressive investment plan.”
“In this scenario, the need for Vale to divest its assets to avoid debt from rising, in our opinion, is less necessary than before, at least from a ratings perspective,” it noted.
S&P said it “believes” market conditions may weaken in the next year “or so,” assuming prices will soften.
“However, our revised estimates suggest that Vale will increase its operating cash generation by around $2 billion in 2016, higher than our previous estimates, while maintaining cash levels close to $3 billion by year-end, which would make the company more resilient to downturn scenarios,” it estimated.