Moody’s assigns Baa3 investment grade rating to MOL with stable outlook

Moody’s concluded that the investment grade credit rating and the related stable outlook is mainly the reflection of (i) MOL’s strong liquidity and financial profile with expected positive FCF generation, (ii) strong refining and marketing presence in the CEE region with two high quality refining assets with one of the highest complexities among European refineries, (iii) integrated business profile with downstream and upstream which proved its resilience to the Group in a lower oil price environment, and (iv) downstream integration into retail and petrochemicals which serve as important sale channels for refined products.

József Simola, MOL Group Chief Financial Officer commented:

"We are very pleased with the investment grade rating from Moody’s which confirms our resilient integrated business model and strong financial profile. In line with the MOL 2030 long-term strategy, we will continue to build on our existing strengths through the combination of our high-quality low-cost asset base and systematic efficiency drive as we aim to lead the industrial transformation in the CEE region whilst maintaining a robust balance sheet and strong liquidity position.”

In the past twelve months several external factors have confirmed MOL’s strong performance and financial position despite a challenging external environment:

• Last March 2016, Fitch Ratings revised MOL’s outlook to stable from negative.
• In July, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Global Ratings upgraded the long-term corporate credit rating of MOL from “BB” (with positive outlook) to “BB+” (with stable outlook).
• In April, MOL issued a Eurobond with the lowest ever yield and coupon in its corporate history.
• In June, MOL secured a new credit facility with highly favorable conditions.
• Analyst consensus rating and price target for MOL improved materially in the last 12 months. Analyst consensus forecast for MOL increased to buy from hold.