Press Release

Ratings of Quaid-e-Azam Solar Power (Private) Limited

Karachi, November 17, 2017: JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Limited (JCR-VIS) has placed the entity ratings of ‘AA-/A-1’ (Double A Minus /A-One) assigned to Quaid-e-Azam Solar Power (Private) Limited (QASPL) on ‘Rating Watch - Developing’ status. Previous rating action was assigned on November 17, 2016.

The action of placing the entity ratings on ‘Rating Watch - Developing’ has been taken in view of the Government of Punjab (GoPb) decision to offload its entire stake in QASPL through a privatization process entailing competitive bidding which is expected to be completed by end December, 2017.

QASPL, a 1,000 MW solar park in Bahawalpur, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the GoPb. The company has a power generation license from NEPRA for 25 years. The energy is purchased by Central Power Purchasing Agency (Guarantee) Limited under the Energy Purchase Agreement. QASPL has a sovereign guarantee on payment obligations by the power purchaser. The plant operated satisfactorily and produced 159.87 GWh of energy in FY17. The company also remained compliant of its financial covenants relating to Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) of 1.25x and minimum current ratio of 1.0 at end-FY17. It also recovered liquidation damages from EPC contractor for not fulfilling the agreed terms of efficiency of the plant mentioned in the EPC contract.

For further information on this rating announcement, please contact the undersigned at 021-35311861-70 (Ext: 234) or Mr. Maimoon Rasheed at 042-35723411-13.


Jamal Abbas Ziadi
Advisor

Applicable Rating Criteria: Industrial Corporates (May 2016)
http://www.jcrvis.com.pk/home2.aspx

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