Fifth consecutive positive S&P review for Enemalta

For the fifth time in four years, Standard and Poor’s is once again endorsing the efforts of Enemalta in the implementation of its turnaround plan for better quality services and long-term financial sustainability.

“We believe that the predictability of Enemalta's performance has greatly improved and that the swing to profitability is now consolidated,” Standard and Poor’s explained in its recent annual review of the company.

Enemalta welcomes this positive review as another confirmation of the achievement of its team of employees as they transformed a loss-making corporation into a profitable, forward-looking company capable of providing its customers with reliable and efficient electricity services at some of Europe’s lowest tariffs.

The rating agency identifies the project to establish a diversified electricity generation mix, including the building of the new Delimara 4 gas-fired plant and the gas conversion of the Delimara 3 plant, as “one of the main steps” of Enemalta’s turnaround.

It also confirms Enemalta’s commitment to continue improving the efficiency of Malta’s electricity distribution network with another €60m investment in 2017 and 2018.

For the first time, S&P is also commending the company’s man- agement team, upgrading Enemalta’s governance assessment from Fair to Satisfactory. “We believe that over the past three years, management delivered consistently against the targeted business repositioning and deleveraging,” the rating agency affirms.

S&P is the second international rating agency to confirm Enemalta’s turnaround within a few days. On Friday, Fitch Ratings described Enemalta as a prof- itable company that is no longer a threat to Malta’s economic development.

Ing. Fredrick Azzopardi, Enemalta plc executive chairman, praised the company employees for this encouraging review. “We are glad that international rating agencies are recognising that we are moving in the right direction, that we are now doing more with much less. As S&P is confirming, Enemalta’s turnaround to profitability and sustainability means that we can maintain the current low electricity tariffs while investing even more resources in the reliability of our electricity generation and distribution infrastructure. In the last three years we invested €80m to start the reinforcement of the electricity distribution network without increasing our debts. Through this ongoing effort we will continue to provide the required electricity services to meet the country’s rapidly increasing demand while reducing the risk of supply interruptions to our customers.”

“This positive result also means that Enemalta can finally start settling its debts without having to rely on complicated refinancing structures,” Ing. Azzopardi added. “Some of Enemalta’s unpaid loans were incurred over 20 years ago to build power plants that will soon be demolished.”

“Our commitment to our customers is to build on these positive results and continue striving to meet their expectations – an increasingly reliable service, with less risk of power cuts, at stable, low tariffs they can afford.”