OREANDA-NEWS. National Rating Agency has affirmed its national scale 'AA' credit rating on Polymetall OJSC. The outlook assigned to the rating is positive.

The rating affirmation reflects the company's invariably leading position in its industry (where Polymetall was one of top performers in terms of production growth in 2014), sustainable and expanding reserve base, and steadily strong operating and financial results, as proved by available data, including those for 1H 2014. The company demonstrates efficiency in managing costs and capital, has adopted strong corporate governance practices and consistently follows its well-defined strategy.

The positive rating outlook reflects the company's persistently solid operating results that exceed targets despite the challenging market conditions, high financial strength and strong liquidity position (demonstrated, for example, by 1H 2014 financials), as well as the forecast of continued positive dynamics. The company is expected to continue to generate an adequate free operating cash flow due to factors such as high operating performance and low cost base that have already allowed it to cut down its net debt by the year-end 2014. In addition, Polymetall is benefiting from the ruble depreciation against the US dollar, which contributes to a considerable cost reduction.