May 24 (SeeNews) - Croatia's multi-utility Zagrebacki Holding, fully owned by the city of Zagreb, said on Tuesday that Moody’s has confirmed the Ba1 credit rating of the company with a stable outlook.
"According to the report, the credit rating of Zagreb Holding is underpinned by strong financial and institutional links with its shareholder, the City of Zagreb, and strategic role of Holding by providing utility services in the city of Zagreb," Zagrebacki Holding said in a filing to the Zagreb Stock Exchange.
Stable prospects reflect the rating agency’s expectation that the city of Zagreb will provide timely support to Zagreb Holding if necessary. The rating also reflects the favorable regulatory framework, which ensures the stability and predictability of future revenue streams in the holding’s core business.
Looking back on the business year 2021, the rating agency mentioned the negative effects of the pandemic, supply chain disruptions, inflationary trends and the energy market crisis on the business results of Zagrebacki Holding, according to the filing.
However, although Zagrebacki Holding achieved a negative business result for the third year in a row at the end of the business year 2021, Moody’s expects the EBITDA to improve significantly this year to approximately 500 million kuna ($71 million/66 million euro), which represents 12% of operating income forecasted over the same period, the filing reads.
Zagrebacki Holding has a corporate bond issue [ZSE:3ZGH] listed on the Zagreb bourse.
(1 euro=7.529 Croatian kuna)