BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 13. Azerbaijani state oil company’s (SOCAR) liquidity will remain manageable, thanks to its sizable cash balances that together with cash flows cover near-term maturities, and the government's willingness to provide extraordinary and ongoing support will stay solid, Trend reports via S&P.
“It also reflects our anticipation there will be no major delays, cost overruns, or operating issues at the company's capex projects and core operations and no major changes in SOCAR's very strong link with the government.
In our base-case scenario, we anticipate S&P Global Ratings-adjusted FFO (funds from operations) to debt of 12%-15% in 2025-2027 and slightly above 20% if accounting for the cash. However, we anticipate relatively high investments of AZN3 billion per year, with positive FOCF ( free operating cash flow) of about AZN1 billion,” said the rating agency.