S&P affirms IRPC ratings

S&P also affirmed its “axBBB+” long-term Asean regional scale rating on the refining and petrochemical company, and the “BB+” long-term issue rating on IRPC’s senior unsecured notes.
S&P has affirmed the ratings because it believes the company’s moderately improving 
earnings profile and pause in sustained investing will not translate into a more solid capital structure or liquidity profile before 2018 at the earliest.
IRPC completed most of its UHV (upstream project for hygiene and value-added 
products) project in 2016, the final component of the company’s Phoenix project, 
with a total investment of US$1.2 billion (Bt41.2 billion). 
UHV will allow the company, through higher refinery complexity, to produce more propylene and naphtha at the expense of lower-value lube and fuel oil, S&P said. 
IRPC will complete the final project stages by the end of this year to maximise its production of gasoline.
In parallel, the company will also complete its polypropylene (PP) expansion and PP compounding projects, which together will increase its PP capacity by 300,000 tonnes per year, S&P said. 
Close to 85 per cent had been completed as of the end of 2016.