Expert RA has confirmed the credit rating of AVTODOM at ruA-

(MENAFN- Abtodom) The Expert RA rating agency has confirmed the credit rating of JSC AVTODOM at ruA-. The rating outlook is stable. The credit rating of AVTODOM is based on a limited assessment of the industry risk profile, moderately strong market and competitive positions, comfortable debt and interest burden, high liquidity and marginality assessment and a moderately low level of corporate risks.

JSC AVTODOM is an automobile holding. It includes a dealer network, an automobile plant and a bank, leasing and factoring companies. AVTODOM occupies a leading position among car dealers in Moscow and St. Petersburg. It specializes in sales and servicing of premium and luxury cars directly and through 100% ownership of subsidiaries. The company's credit rating is assigned based on consolidated IFRS statements.

The company specializes in high-end cars and strengthens its position in the used car segment in regions with a more solvent population. This partially minimizes the risk of a strong decrease in sales due to less dependence on the general state of the economy. The company uses all existing import opportunities. This allows avoiding significant problems in the supply of spare parts and components.

AVTODOM has significant competitive advantages over new or small dealers, due to a wide dealer and partner network and long-term experience in the market. AVTODOM's competitive position is assessed as average taking into account its strong position in the Moscow and St. Petersburg markets. However, there is an adjustment for the scale of the company's activities. The dealer network includes 43 centers and showrooms. AVTODOM BMW Zorge is the company's largest dealership. About 10% of revenue came from this according to the results of 2023. The diversified portfolio of brands includes Mercedes-Benz, BMW, BMW Motorrad, MINI, Lamborghini, Porsche, Audi, Aurus, KTM, Sitrak, Forland, Foton, Seres, Exeed, GAC and others. The company does not have a significant dependence on key customers and suppliers.

"The automobile market is very dynamic and actively reacts to any triggers. We can expect sales to grow to levels higher than in 2021 in the coming years. We are waiting 1.4-1.45 million cars this year. Next year may show growth of up to 20%. We plan to develop our business so that the process of owning a car is customer-centric. We want to form such business processes so that the car owner does not think about how much he will lose when selling a car in 3-5 years. However, he only thinks about what kind of car he wants to see in his garage next year. We have all the tools for this, from our own production and a wide network of sales and car maintenance to sharing and car subscription services", - Andrey Olkhovsky, General Manager of AVTODOM Group, commented.

The adjusted debt ratio excluding lease liabilities to EBITDA for 2023 at AVTODOM was 2.3x as of December 31, 2023. The Expert RA assumes that the company will adhere to a balanced financial policy and will not significantly increase its loan portfolio. The company's operating cash flow on the horizon of a year from the reporting date, taking into account the liquidity reserve and undrawn credit lines, is sufficient to service the debt and make supporting investments. The agency positively assesses the availability of many opportunities for debt refinancing and a conservative policy for placing available cash.

The company demonstrated revenue growth of 67% compared to the previous year from RUB 47.4 billion to RUB 79.2 billion. EBITDA margin was 15% in the reporting period. This is higher than the maximum benchmarks and supports the credit rating level. A stable forecast has been set for the rating. This implies a high probability of maintaining the credit rating at the current level for 12 months.

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