Uzbekistan-Based Gold Miner Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Co. Assigned 'BB-' Rating; Outlook Stable

Uzbekistan-based Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Co. (NMMC) is the world's fourth-largest gold producer with 2.9 million ounces (moz) of output in 2023, benefiting from the low cost of production and vast reserves, as well as conservative leverage metrics with funds from operations (FFO) to debt consistently above 60%. Our assessment of NMMC's creditworthiness is constrained by relatively low business diversity, considering that 100% of its operations are in Uzbekistan and 60% of production comes from a single mine, Muruntau-Myutenbay. We also factor in evolving financial and governance policies. Although we assess NMMC's stand-alone credit profile (SACP) at 'bb+', stronger than the 'BB-' sovereign rating on Uzbekistan, we see as a constraint NMMC's exposure to potentially negative government intervention due to

...July 3, 2024 - Uzbekistan-based Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Co. (NMMC) is the world's fourth-largest gold producer with 2.9 million ounces (moz) of output in 2023, benefiting from the low cost of production and vast reserves, as well as conservative leverage metrics with funds from operations (FFO) to debt consistently above 60%. - Our assessment of NMMC's creditworthiness is constrained by relatively low business diversity, considering that 100% of its operations are in Uzbekistan and 60% of production comes from a single mine, Muruntau-Myutenbay. We also factor in evolving financial and governance policies. - Although we assess NMMC's stand-alone credit profile (SACP) at '##+', stronger than the '##-' sovereign rating on Uzbekistan, we see as a constraint NMMC's exposure to potentially negative government intervention due to full government ownership, strong state representation on the board, and status as the largest single source of government's revenue. - We assigned our '##-' long-term...

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