NEPI ROCKCASTLE

RATING AND OUTLOOK UNCHANGED

S&P GLOBAL Ratings has left its rating and outlook for NEPI Rockcastle unchanged following the publication of a damning report on the company last week by Viceroy Research. The ratings agency said on Friday that its unchanged ratings and outlook for NEPI Rockcastle reflected “the lack of conclusive evidence contained in the Viceroy Research report”. However, S&P said it would monitor possible developments related to the allegations, including the terms of NEPI Rockcastle’s access to capital markets. In its report, Viceroy alleged there were accounting discrepancies within NEPI Rockcastle’s financial reporting, and it requested stakeholders to reinforce their demands for an independent forensic investigation into the company’s operations. S&P said the initial equity market reaction was significant, with the company’s share price losing more than 13 percent. But it said this decline was largely recovered after NEPI Rockcastle released detailed statements on its reporting, indicating that the Viceroy report was based on a number of factual errors, misleading information and false claims. S&P said NEPI Rockcastle had also confirmed that Viceroy’s allegations would not have any impact on the fair valuation of its asset base and its overall property appraisal process. Shares in NEPI Rockcastle fell 0.69 percent on Friday to close at R110.