S&P Global Ratings, Moody's upgrade Antero Resources' ratings

S&P Global Ratings on Jan. 11 upgraded Antero Resources Corp.'s issuer credit rating to B from B- and its unsecured notes to B+ from B with a recovery rating of 2. The outlook is stable.

The rating agency said the upgrades are due to Antero Resources' recently announced offering of $500 million of unsecured notes due 2029, according to a news release. Antero has said it plans to use the offering's proceeds to fund the redemption of $310.5 million of its 5.125% senior notes due 2022 and to repay borrowings under its credit facility due Oct. 26, 2022.

Ratings, which has assigned a B+ rating and a 2 recovery rating for the 2029 notes, said the upgrades and the outlook reflect the agency's anticipation that the oil and gas producer will be able to keep sufficient liquidity with access to capital markets and a positive cash flow generation.

Moody's in two same-day news releases also upgraded Antero Resources and subsidiary Antero Midstream Partners LP. The agency attributed the producer's improved ratings to decreased refinancing risks, better free cash flow generation and possibilities for debt reduction.

Moody's brought Antero Resources' corporate family rating to B1 from B2, probability of default rating to B1-PD from B2-PD, senior unsecured notes to B2 from B3 and speculative-grade liquidity rating to SGL-2 from SGL-3 and assigned a B2 rating for the corporation's 2029 notes.

The rating agency raised Antero Midstream's corporate family rating B1 from B2, probability of default rating to B1-PD from B2-PD, and senior unsecured notes to B2 from B3. Moody's said the anticipated improvement in Antero Resources' credit profile will help stabilize the midstream partnership's operations and cash flow.

This S&P Global Market Intelligence news article may contain information about credit ratings issued by S&P Global Ratings, a separately managed division of S&P Global. Descriptions in this news article were not prepared by S&P Global Ratings.