Bulletin: Dominion Energy Inc. And Subsidiaries Ratings Are Not Affected By Common Equity Issuance

NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) March 28, 2018--S&P Global Ratings said today that its ratings on Dominion Energy Inc. (BBB+/Negative/A-2) and its subsidiaries are not affected by yesterday's announcement of an approximate $1.5 billion common equity issuance through a forward sale agreement, replacement of parent level debt with with project-level debt at Dominion Energy Cove Point, and non-core asset sales. While we view these developments as largely in line with our base-case expectations, we note the company's steps to improve its credit quality reduces the likelihood of a downgrade. Earlier in 2018, the company issued $500 million of common equity, announced a reduction to its capital spending program by about $1 billion during 2018-2019, and announced $300 million in common

...NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) March 28, 2018--S&P Global Ratings said today that its ratings on Dominion Energy Inc. (###+/Negative/A-2) and its subsidiaries are not affected by yesterday's announcement of an approximate $1.5 billion common equity issuance through a forward sale agreement, replacement of parent level debt with with project-level debt at Dominion Energy Cove Point, and non-core asset sales. While we view these developments as largely in line with our base-case expectations, we note the company's steps to improve its credit quality reduces the likelihood of a downgrade. Earlier in 2018, the company issued $500 million of common equity, announced a reduction to its capital spending program by about $1 billion during 2018-2019, and announced $300 million in common equity during 2018 through its dividend reinvestment program. We view all of these measures as credit supportive. The negative outlook continues to reflect the company's weak financial measures for the current rating...

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