...July 31, 2019 MADRID (S&P Global Ratings) July 31, 2019--S&P Global Ratings said today, that REN-Redes Energeticas Nacionais SGPS S.A.'s (REN's; ###/Stable/A-2) recent acquisition of Transemel will not materially weaken REN's overall financial risk profile, despite the transaction being entirely debt funded. Additionally, the Portuguese electricity and gas network operator's first-half 2019 results are in line with our expectations, with EBITDA reducing by 2% mainly due to lower rates of return. Overall, we forecast REN's S&P Global Ratings-adjusted funds from operations (FFO) to debt will remain above 13% in 2019-2021 (see chart 1). Although we forecast REN's EBITDA will decline yearly by about 3% in 2019 and 2020 due to lower rates of return in Portuguese power and gas regulated assets, under our base case we expect metrics will benefit from the level of taxes being paid returning to normal, and a reduction in REN's financing costs....
