(Finance) – S&P Global Ratings awarded the BBB rating with stable outlook at Plenitudethe retail and renewable energy business of Eni (formerly known as Eni Gas e Luce), which should be listed on the stock exchange in 2022 (the project was announced in October 2021, before the geopolitical tensions and the conflict in Ukraine). The rating agency highlights that Plenitude’s business is mainly focused on retail operations, which represent approximately 85% of the € 600 million expected EBITDA for 2022. It has 10 million customers in Europe, most of them which are in Italy (7.8 million), where Plenitude is the first supplier of gas and the second of electricity.
The report points out that Plenitude is “a key pillar of Eni’s renewable strategy“, as the group plans to expand and diversify its activities in the renewable energy segment and in low-risk countries. This, together with Eni’s commitment to remain a major shareholder of Plenitude,” translates into an increase of three notches “of the stand-alone credit profile (SACP)” bb “. The stable outlook reflects S&P’s expectation that the utility knows leverage your initial competitive advantage in retail and renewable energy production, with a funds from operation (FFO) to debt ratio of around 25% from 2022-2024.