LISBON: Utility Energias de Portugal , Portugal's largest company, plans to issue dollar-denominated bonds this year and may also launch debt in euros depending on market conditions, its chief financial officer said.
Nuno Alves wrote in an e-mailed reply to questions from Reuters that a drop in Portuguese bond yields since last year and the latest bailout review, in which lenders eased the Portuguese government's budget deficit targets, have helped reduce investor risk perception of Portugal and EDP.
"EDP intends to make a dollar-denominated debt issue in 2013. Aside from that issue, EDP could access the market in euros based on opportunities, if the conditions are interesting," he wrote. He would not say when any issuance could take place.
"Despite some volatility in spreads due mostly to events outside of Portugal, such as the recent case of Cyprus, the market has been open to Portuguese issuers with interesting maturities, above five years," Alves said.
He added that investors and the market were recognising EDP's resilience to the adverse economic environment in Portugal, which is grappling with its deepest recession since the 1970s. The company has a comfortable liquidity position and has financing needs covered "beyond the end of 2014", he said.
In September, EDP tapped the corporate bond market by issuing 750 million euros of five-year bonds, becoming the first Portuguese entity to issue bonds in almost two years since before Portugal's 2011 bailout.
On Friday Standard & Poor's revised its outlook for EDP's BB+ credit rating, its highest junk bond rating, to stable from negative, following a similar move on the Portuguese sovereign rating earlier. Its EDP rating is one notch above Portugal's sovereign.
Alves said S&P acknowledged EDP's geographical diversification, regulatory risk management as well as a "prudent financial policy focused on reinforcing liquidity and balance sheet deleveraging".
In late 2011, the Portuguese state sold a 21 percent stake in EDP to China Three Gorges, which is now the largest single shareholder in the utility.
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