DBRS Morningstar Confirms Société de transport de Montréal at A (high)/R-1 (low), Stable Trends

DBRS Limited (DBRS Morningstar) confirmed the Long-Term Debt rating and Commercial Paper (CP) rating of Société de transport de Montréal (STM) at A (high) and R-1 (low), respectively. All trends are Stable. The confirmation follows that of the ratings for the City of Montréal (Montréal or the City; rated A (high) with a Stable trend by DBRS Morningstar).

The ratings are based on the statutory guarantees from the 16 municipalities comprising the Urban agglomeration of Montréal and, specifically, the City. All STM debt, obligations, and commitments are fully guaranteed on a joint-and-several basis under the Act respecting public transit authorities (Bill 24). DBRS Morningstar believes that the City has strong incentive and the capacity to provide timely liquidity support to STM should it encounter difficulties in meeting its financing obligations, including rolling its short-term CP, in a period of market disruption or loss of access to capital markets. As of December 31, 2019, STM had utilized $379.0 million in CP issuances, with an authorized program limit of $750.0 million.

The CP program complies with “DBRS Morningstar Criteria: Commercial Paper Liquidity Support for Nonbank Issuers” (March 10, 2020). DBRS Morningstar notes that the City has stable and predictable cash flows in the form of tax instalment revenues and ample liquidity available in the form of cash and highly rated Canadian government bonds comfortably covering anticipated same-day CP maturities and total CP program outstanding balances. The City had $1.3 billion in cash and investments (excluding $2.4 billion in sinking fund investments) on hand as at December 31, 2019. STM also maintains a $100 million committed line of credit for general operating purposes and limits weekly CP maturities to the size of this facility in accordance with an internal debt management policy. The City has other demand lines of credit for corporate purposes totalling $312.0 million.

The City as guarantor provides DBRS Morningstar with certain details regarding STM, its CP program, and STM’s $100 million bank facility. The guarantee meets DBRS Morningstar’s guarantee criteria (“DBRS Morningstar Criteria: Guarantees and Other Forms of Support” (January 22, 2020)). For clarity, DBRS Morningstar notes that it is the City that provides the rating agency with sufficient information to rate the program.

ESG CONSIDERATIONS
A description of how DBRS Morningstar considers ESG factors within the DBRS Morningstar analytical framework and its methodologies can be found at https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/357792.

Notes:
All figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.

The principal methodologies are Rating Canadian Municipal Governments (May 15, 2019); DBRS Morningstar Criteria: Guarantees and Other Forms of Support (January 22, 2020); and DBRS Morningstar Criteria: Commercial Paper Liquidity Support for Nonbank Issuers (March 10, 2020), which can be found on dbrsmorningstar.com under Methodologies & Criteria.

For more information regarding rating methodologies and Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), please see the following DBRS Morningstar press release: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/357883.

The related regulatory disclosures pursuant to the National Instrument 25-101 Designated Rating Organizations are hereby incorporated by reference and can be found by clicking on the link under Related Documents or by contacting us at info@dbrsmorningstar.com.

The rated entity or its related entities did participate in the rating process for this rating action. DBRS Morningstar had access to the accounts and other relevant internal documents of the rated entity or its related entities in connection with this rating action.

Generally, the conditions that lead to the assignment of a Negative or Positive trend are resolved within a 12-month period. DBRS Morningstar trends and ratings are under regular surveillance.

For more information on this credit or on this industry, visit www.dbrsmorningstar.com or contact us at info@dbrsmorningstar.com.

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