Princess Juliana Intl Airport Op Company N.V. — Moody’s announces completion of a periodic review of ratings of Princess Juliana Intl Airport Op Company N.V. March 10, 2021, 11:50 am
Announcement of Periodic Review: Moody’s announces completion of a periodic review of ratings of Princess Juliana Intl Airport Op Company N.V.Global Credit Research – 10 Mar 2021New York, March 10, 2021 — Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) has completed a periodic review of the ratings of Princess Juliana Intl Airport Op Company N.V. and other ratings that are associated with the same analytical unit. The review was conducted through a portfolio review discussion held on 4 March 2021 in which Moody’s reassessed the appropriateness of the ratings in the context of the relevant principal methodology(ies), recent developments, and a comparison of the financial and operating profile to similarly rated peers. The review did not involve a rating committee. Since 1 January 2019, Moody’s practice has been to issue a press release following each periodic review to announce its completion.This publication does not announce a credit rating action and is not an indication of whether or not a credit rating action is likely in the near future. Credit ratings and outlook/review status cannot be changed in a portfolio review and hence are not impacted by this announcement. For any credit ratings referenced in this publication, please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com for the most updated credit rating action information and rating history.Key rating considerations are summarized below.Our Ba3 rating assigned to Princess Juliana International Airport’s (“PJIA”) reflects short-term challenges such as: (i) tight liquidity, (ii) breach of two covenants that require waivers from investors, (iii) debt service payments that will continue to be made in the coming quarters from IATA collections of Airport Departure Fees and liquidity available, mainly business interruption proceeds and (iv) the uncertainty around enplanement recovery in 2021.PJIA also benefits from a $21 million fully committed facility that may be used to cover operating expenditures during reconstruction of the airport. We acknowledge the airport’s essential role for St. Maarten’s economy and its key role as a local hub connecting passengers to eight nearby tourist destinations.The rating also reflects the airport’s weak enplanement trends as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Enplanements in 2020 were 63% below 2019. For 2021 we expect enplanements will improve but only to 50% of 2019, resulting in poor financial performance that will lead PJIA to continue to rely on available cash for its operations and meeting debt service payments. Importantly, in our base case forecast we do not expect PJIA to draw from its 6-month debt service reserve fund.This document summarizes Moody’s view as of the publication date and will not be updated until the next periodic review announcement, which will incorporate material changes in credit circumstances (if any) during the intervening period.The principal methodologies used for this review were Privately Managed Airports and Related Issuers published in September 2017 and Government-Related Issuers Methodology published in February 2020. Please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy of these methodologies.This announcement applies only to EU rated, UK rated, EU endorsed and UK endorsed ratings. Non EU rated, non UK rated, non EU endorsed and non UK endorsed ratings may be referenced above to the extent necessary, if they are part of the same analytical unit.This publication does not announce a credit rating action.