OREANDA-NEWS. National Rating Agency has lowered its national scale credit rating on Pluton OJSC to ‘A’. The company’s first-time credit rating of ‘A+’ was assigned on July 10, 2014.

The rating downgrade reflects the company’s growing debt burden and increasing debt servicing expenses; deteriorated loan maturity profile, poor diversification by lender and the fact that one of its loans is foreign currency denominated and cannot be covered by export earnings. NRA also notes the low share of equity in Pluton’s funding mix, and the weak net profit margins.

The rating is supported by the company’s long track record of successful operations, up-to-date production capacities and unique products, developed and manufactured for military, industrial and scientific applications (usually to the order of the Russian military-industrial complex), consistently well-filled order portfolio, healthy revenue growth, and strong liquidity position.

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