The state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), South Korea’s largest electric utility company, has become the world’s first utility company to receive AA-range credit ratings from all of the Big Three credit rating agencies -- Standard & Poor's (S&P), Moody's, and Fitch.
S&P has revised up KEPCO’s credit rating by one notch to ‘AA-' from ‘A+', citing that KEPCO’s relations with the South Korean government are believed to be indispensible to KEPCO performing public functions as a leading electricity provider in the nation.
Thanks to the credit rating upgrade, KEPCO now has the same credit ratings as South Korea: ‘Aa3’from Moody's, ‘AA-' from S&P and ‘AA-' from Fitch, the highest since KEPCO’s inception.
KEPCO’s credits ratings are even higher than those of France’s state-run utility company EDF, the US’s Duke Energy and Spain’s Iberdrola.
Amid other global electric power companies suffering credit rating cuts due to market downturns caused by business restructurings, changing regulations and fiercer competition, KEPCO has managed to keep its credit ratings high on the back of its financial soundness and strong competitiveness.
