Rating Action Commentary
ֳ Upgrades Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority to 'B-' on Sovereign Upgrade
Thu 24 Apr, 2025 - 10:10 PM ET
ֳ - Singapore/Sydney - 24 Apr 2025: ֳ has upgraded Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority's (WAPDA) Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'B-' from 'CCC+'. The Outlook is Stable. ֳ has concurrently upgraded the rating on WAPDA's senior unsecured bond to 'B-' from 'CCC+', equalised with WAPDA's IDR.
Key Rating Drivers
The upgrade follows ֳ's upgrade of the Pakistan sovereign rating to 'B-' from 'CCC+' on 15 April 2025. WAPDA's ratings are equalised with those of the sovereign and are sensitive to any rating action on the sovereign. For details on the sovereign rating, see ֳ Upgrades Pakistan to 'B-'; Outlook Stable.
For details on our assessment of the government's responsibility and incentive to support the company, see ֳ Affirms Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority at 'CCC+', published on 12 February 2025.
Derivation Summary
We believe extraordinary support from Pakistan to WAPDA would be 'Virtually Certain' in case of need, reflecting a maximum support score of 60 under our Government-Related Entities Rating Criteria. We equalise WAPDA's rating with the sovereign rating regardless of WAPDA's Standalone Credit Profile.
RATING SENSITIVITIES
Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Negative Rating Action/Downgrade
A sovereign downgrade or lower government responsibility or incentive to provide support may lead to negative rating action.
Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Positive Rating Action/Upgrade
An upgrade of the sovereign may trigger positive rating action on WAPDA.
Issuer Profile
WAPDA is a hydroelectric power generation company wholly owned by the state. It was set up to integrate the development of the country's water and power resources. It made up 88% of the country's hydroelectric installed capacity and 20% of total capacity as of end-June 2024.
REFERENCES FOR SUBSTANTIALLY MATERIAL SOURCE CITED AS KEY DRIVER OF RATING
The principal sources of information used in the analysis are described in the Applicable Criteria.
Public Ratings with Credit Linkage to other ratings
WAPDA's ratings are linked to those of the Pakistan sovereign.
ESG Considerations
ֳ does not provide ESG relevance scores for WAPDA.
In cases where ֳ does not provide ESG relevance scores in connection with the credit rating of a transaction, programme, instrument or issuer, ֳ will disclose any ESG factor that is a key rating driver in the key rating drivers section of the relevant rating action commentary. For more information on ֳ's ESG Relevance Scores, visit /topics/esg/products
Additional information is available on
PARTICIPATION STATUS
The rated entity (and/or its agents) or, in the case of structured finance, one or more of the transaction parties participated in the rating process except that the following issuer(s), if any, did not participate in the rating process, or provide additional information, beyond the issuer’s available public disclosure.
APPLICABLE CRITERIA
ADDITIONAL DISCLOSURES
ENDORSEMENT STATUS
| Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority | EU Endorsed, UK Endorsed |