DBRS Morningstar Confirms Ratings on Portuguese Electricity Tariff Securitisations

DBRS Ratings GmbH (DBRS Morningstar) confirmed the following ratings on the notes issued by two Portuguese electricity tariff securitisations (the PT Electricity Tariff Transactions):

-- TAGUS SOCIEDADE DE TITULARIZAÇÃO DE CRÉDITOS, S.A. (EnergyOn No. 1), Class A1 at A (low) (sf)
-- TAGUS SOCIEDADE DE TITULARIZAÇÃO DE CRÉDITOS, S.A. (EnergyOn No. 1), Interest Rate Swap (IRS) at A (low) (sf)
-- TAGUS SOCIEDADE DE TITULARIZAÇÃO DE CRÉDITOS, S.A. (EnergyOn No. 2), Class A at A (low) (sf)

The confirmations follow an annual review of the transactions and are based on the following analytical considerations:
-- The linkage between the performance of the sovereign and the performance of the securities issued by the PT Electricity Tariff Transactions. DBRS Morningstar’s Sovereign Group confirmed the Republic of Portugal’s (Portugal) Long-Term Foreign and Local Currency – Issuer Ratings at BBB (high) with a Stable trend in February 2021.
-- No expected adverse change in the legal or regulatory framework.
-- No exposure to the credit risk of any specific entity in the transaction.
-- Current economic environment and an assessment of sustainable performance, as a result of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

The ratings on notes address the timely payment of interest and ultimate payment of principal on or before the legal final maturity date in May 2025.

The PT Electricity Tariff Transactions are static securitisations of Portuguese electricity tariff receivables (Credit Rights) assigned to the Issuer, TAGUS Sociedade de Titularização de Créditos, S.A., by EDP – Serviço Universal, S.A. – NR (EDP-SU). Pursuant to the Portuguese Decree-Law 29/2006 (as subsequently amended and republished), EDP-SU has the right to recover any amounts arising from the difference between the costs of acquiring electricity under the special regime generation according to administrative prices and the sale price of the respective electricity valued according to market prices. All Portuguese electricity consumers pay the Credit Rights through their inclusion in the tariffs on a permanent basis as a component of the Global Use of System Tariff, or total rate per unit paid by end consumers.

Based on DBRS Morningstar’s “Rating Portuguese Electricity Tariff Securitisations” methodology, the ratings on securities issued by the PT Electricity Tariff Transactions are limited to a maximum two-notch uplift from the current local currency sovereign rating on Portugal. DBRS Morningstar’s Sovereign Group confirmed Portugal’s Long-Term Foreign and Local Currency – Issuer Ratings at BBB (high) with a Stable trend in February 2021, one notch below the current rating on the notes.

In addition, the IRS payments to EnergyOn No. 1’s Swap Counterparty are senior to the Class A1 notes in the priority of payments and are based on DBRS Morningstar’s “Rating Portuguese Electricity Tariff Securitisations” methodology. The rating on the IRS is also limited to a maximum two-notch uplift from Portugal’s current local currency sovereign rating.

Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch (DB London) acts as the account bank for the two PT Electricity Tariff Transactions. Based on the DBRS Morningstar private rating on DB London, the downgrade provisions outlined in the transactions documents, and structural mitigants inherent in the transaction structures, DBRS Morningstar considers the risk arising from the exposure to DB London to be consistent with the rating assigned to the notes, as described in DBRS Morningstar’s “Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions” methodology.

DB London is the Swap Counterparty of EnergyOn No. 1 and Banco Santander SA is the Swap Counterparty of EnergyOn No. 2. The DBRS Morningstar private rating on DB London and the DBRS Morningstar Long-Term Critical Obligations Rating of at AA (low) on Banco Santander SA are consistent with the First Rating Threshold defined in DBRS Morningstar’s “Derivative Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions” methodology.

The coronavirus and the resulting isolation measures have caused an economic contraction, leading to sharp increases in unemployment rates and income reductions for many borrowers. DBRS Morningstar anticipates that delinquencies may continue to increase in the coming months for many asset-backed security (ABS) transactions, some meaningfully. The ratings are based on additional analysis and, where appropriate, adjustments to expected performance as a result of the global efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

On 16 April 2020, the DBRS Morningstar Sovereign group released a set of macroeconomic scenarios for the 2020–22 period in select economies. These scenarios were last updated on 17 March 2021. For details, see the following commentaries: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/375376/global-macroeconomic-scenarios-march-2021-update and https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/359903/global-macroeconomic-scenarios-application-to-credit-ratings. The DBRS Morningstar analysis considered impacts consistent with the moderate scenario in the referenced reports.

On 8 May 2020, DBRS Morningstar published a commentary outlining how the coronavirus crisis is likely to affect DBRS Morningstar-rated ABS transactions in Europe. For more details, please see: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/360734/european-abs-transactions-risk-exposure-to-coronavirus-covid-19-effect and https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/362712/european-structured-finance-covid-19-credit-risk-exposure-roadmap.

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.

For more information regarding the structured finance rating approach and Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), please see the following DBRS Morningstar press release: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/359905.

For more information regarding structured finance rating methodologies and Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), please see the following DBRS Morningstar press release: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/358308.

ESG CONSIDERATIONS
A description of how DBRS Morningstar considers ESG factors within the DBRS Morningstar analytical framework can be found in the DBRS Morningstar Criteria: Approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance Risk Factors in Credit Ratings at https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/373262.

Notes:
All figures are in euros unless otherwise noted.

The principal methodology applicable to the ratings is the “Master European Structured Finance Surveillance Methodology” (8 February 2021).

Other methodologies referenced in this transaction are listed at the end of this press release. These may be found at: http://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/about/methodologies.

DBRS Morningstar has applied the principal methodology consistently and conducted a review of the transaction in accordance with the principal methodology.

A review of the transaction legal documents was not conducted as the legal documents have remained unchanged since the most recent rating actions.

For a more detailed discussion of the sovereign risk impact on Structured Finance ratings, please refer to “Appendix C: The Impact of Sovereign Ratings on Other DBRS Morningstar Credit Ratings” of the “Global Methodology for Rating Sovereign Governments” at: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/364527/global-methodology-for-rating-sovereign-governments.

The sources of data and information used for these ratings include investor reports provided by DB London for both EnergyOn No. 1 and EnergyOn No. 2.

DBRS Morningstar did not rely upon third-party due diligence in order to conduct its analysis.

At the time of the initial ratings, DBRS Morningstar was supplied with third-party assessments. However, this did not impact the rating analysis.

DBRS Morningstar considers the data and information available to it for the purposes of providing these ratings to be of satisfactory quality.

DBRS Morningstar does not audit or independently verify the data or information it receives in connection with the rating process.

The last rating actions on these transactions took place on 14 April 2020, when DBRS Morningstar confirmed the ratings on the notes at A (low) (sf).

To assess the impact of changing the transaction parameters on the rating, DBRS Morningstar considered the following stress scenarios, as compared with the parameters used to determine the rating (the Base Case):

-- A hypothetical downgrade of the sovereign rating of Portugal by one notch, ceteris paribus, would lead to the rating of the rated notes to remain at A (low) (sf).
-- A hypothetical downgrade of the sovereign rating of Portugal by two notches, ceteris paribus, would lead to a downgrade of the rated notes to BBB (high) (sf).

For further information on DBRS Morningstar historical default rates published by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) in a central repository, see: http://cerep.esma.europa.eu/cerep-web/statistics/defaults.xhtml. DBRS Morningstar understands further information on DBRS Morningstar historical default rates may be published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on its webpage: https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/credit-rating-agencies.

These ratings are endorsed by DBRS Ratings Limited for use in the United Kingdom.

Lead Analyst: Petter Wettestad, Senior Analyst
Rating Committee Chair: Alfonso Candelas, Senior Vice President
Initial Rating Date: 8 April 2011

DBRS Ratings GmbH
Neue Mainzer Straße 75
60311 Frankfurt am Main Deutschland
Tel. +49 (69) 8088 3500

Geschäftsführer: Detlef Scholz
Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main, HRB 110259

The rating methodologies used in the analysis of this transaction can be found at: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/about/methodologies.

-- Master European Structured Finance Surveillance Methodology (8 February 2021), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/373435/master-european-structured-finance-surveillance-methodology.
-- Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions (6 April 2021), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/376314/legal-criteria-for-european-structured-finance-transactions.
-- Rating Portuguese Electricity Tariff Securitisations (25 August 2020), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/366095/rating-portuguese-electricity-tariff-securitisations.
-- Interest Rate Stresses for European Structured Finance Transactions (28 September 2020), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/367292/interest-rate-stresses-for-european-structured-finance-transactions.
-- Derivative Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions (24 September 2020), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/367092/derivative-criteria-for-european-structured-finance-transactions.
-- DBRS Morningstar Criteria: Approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance Risk Factors in Credit Ratings (3 February 2021), https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/373262/dbrs-morningstar-criteria-approach-to-environmental-social-and-governance-risk-factors-in-credit-ratings.

A description of how DBRS Morningstar analyses structured finance transactions and how the methodologies are collectively applied can be found at: http://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/278375.

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