SK Innovation’s status in the global credit market is at a record high.

On 6th, SK Innovation revealed that it had received a Baa1 rating from Moody’s Corporation (Moody’s), a global credit rating agency. Baa1, SK Innovation’s highest credit rating, represents a step-up from its previous Baa2 rating. Moody’s also gave SK Innovation a “stable” forecast for its new credit rating.

This achievement is the second one for SK Innovation, following the BBB+ rating given by Standard & Poor’s Financial Services (S&P) two weeks ago. With this triumph, SK Innovation has joined the ranks of top Korean energy companies in terms of global credit ratings.

According to SK Innovation, it attained this rating because of its record-high performance last year in the wake of its long-term industrial restructuring and innovation, which focused on chemicals, lubricants, petroleum development, batteries, and information and electronics material businesses. The successful restructuring rewarded the company with the highest operating profit in its history, which is KRW 3.2286 trillion, of which KRW 2 trillion was obtained from its nonpetroleum business alone.

SK Innovation also pointed to the robust prospect of its financial strength in the future as a powerful factor in its market confidence. Having reduced its loan payables by nearly KRW 6 trillion in only two years, SK Innovation has greatly improved its ability to weather the sudden changes in the market in the recent years.

The positive evaluation of two major credit agencies in the world, S&P and Moody’s, is also notable because these decisions wered on a comprehensiveuation of SK Innovation and its business, profit, and financial structure.

“The recent improvements in credit ratings serve as powerful opportunities for us to build a financial basis of our goal of achieving a KRW 30 trillion net worth in 2018,” said an SK Innovation representative. “We will continue to work toward our two goals, namely, industrial innovation through aggressive investments and stability enhancement through improvements in our profit and financial structures, to pave the road toward becoming a global leader in the energy and chemical industry,” the representative added.