Agusto & Co and Global Credit Ratings have re-affirmed the “AAA” credit rating of Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company Limited for the fifth consecutive year.
In re-affirming InfraCredit’s “AAA” rating, Global Credit Rating emphasised that the rating was hinged on InfraCredit’s strong capitalisation and leverage position, solid liquidity profile, and sound asset quality.
Speaking on the rating outcomes, Chinua Azubike, managing director/CEO of InfraCredit said, “the concurrent affirmations of InfraCredit’s “AAA” rating, with stable outlook, by Agusto and GCR for the fifth consecutive year is a testament of the positive reflection of our unique strategy, strong management team, solid balance sheet supported by our capital providers, sound quality of our guarantees and strong risk management practice with zero delinquencies till date.”
Despite the challenging operating environment, Global Credit Rating noted that InfraCredit displayed a good growth trajectory over the review period (championing some major infrastructure projects), as portfolio size grew from three at FY20 to eight by FY21, with several other transactions in the pipeline in the current year.
Assigning the highest credit rating on InfraCredit, Agusto reiterated that “the rating recognises the capital, technical and governance support provided by InfraCredit’s equity and debt sponsors in addition to InfraCredit developmental role and strategic importance in bridging Nigeria’s infrastructural gap.
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“The rating reflects the good quality of InfraCredit guarantees and investment portfolio upheld by an acceptable risk management framework, good profitability during the review year, and an experienced management team,” Agusto stated.
Agusto also assigned an ESG score of “2” to InfaCredit which denotes that environmental, social and governance issues have minimal impact on InfraCredit’s credit risk.
“Equally significant is the positive recognition of InfraCredit’s increasing ESG impact by the rating agencies,” Azubike said.
The affirmation of the rating reinvigorates the quality of the InfraCredit guarantee portfolio underpinned by nil impaired guarantee from inception till date (on the back of stringent risk acceptance criteria and proactive monitoring) and a strong and increasing capital base with adequate buffers to support guarantee portfolio growth.
In addition, the rating is supported by InfraCredit’s strong competitive position, in terms of its mandate and operations delivery as currently the sole infrastructure credit guarantee provider in Nigeria.
For the review period, InfraCredit maintained its strong financial profile score of 5.25 underpinned by InfraCredit’s healthy capital and leverage, sound, and stable funding and liquidity positions, and risk management practice.
The strength of the rating is also supported by InfraCredit’s ESG implementation and monitoring, and a sound risk profile underscored by its stringent underwriting criteria.
