2023 Corporate Credit Outlook

Entering 2023, mining issuers' forecast operating cash flow and EBITDA are expected to be strong, with prices expected to remain above historic norms despite turbulent macroeconomic conditions. This session will review revenue contributions, relative commodity performance and industry headwinds. As mining faces pressures for a greener future, there are also longer term implications to consider. We will follow with a Q&A for all who wish to participate.

After rebounding from pandemic-related business disruptions in 2022, the telecom industry profitability is likely to soften in 2023, owing to a challenging macroeconomic outlook. Amid rising costs for goods and services and a slowing economic environment, we expect consumers and enterprises to moderate telecom spending. This session will discuss risks to the industry, heavily driven by
capital intensity, and will review variances in impact for geographic regions globally. We will follow with a Q&A for all who wish to participate.

Consumer behavior in response to a challenging macroeconomic backdrop is expected to vary across the spectrum of consumer products companies. This session will explore how changing consumer behavior will affect the operating performance and capital allocation of companies in this sector, and consequently the impact on their credit risk profiles. It will be followed by a Q&A for all who wish to participate.

The challenging macroeconomic backdrop is driving change in consumer behaviour, which will affect both retailers and restaurants. This session will explore how these changes in consumer behavior will affect different types of retailers and restaurants in terms of revenues, margins, and capital allocation practices. We will follow with a Q&A for all who wish to participate.

Despite elevated interest rates and a projected economic slowdown, the transportation industry should be relatively resilient in 2023. As airlines recover from the pandemic downturn, the industry may be on the path to normalization. We will discuss vulnerabilities to this recovery, including macroeconomic challenges, geopolitical risks and increased costs. On the railway front, there has been a sustained focus on improving productivity, which will help mitigate cost pressures. There are also numerous industry factors that will aid with revenue resilience. We will follow with a Q&A for all who wish to participate.

This session will provide an outlook for autos, manufacturing, construction and capital goods amidst a year that is characterized by rising interest rates and economic turbulence. We will review factors that may influence performance of of these individual sectors, touching on post-pandemic demand, spending and cost management, opportunities for capitalization and new industry trends. We will follow with a Q&A for all who wish to participate.

For the oil and gas industry, 2022 was a year characterized by excessive price volatility and DBRS Morningstar expects more of the same in 2023. Globally, oil and natural gas prices reached multiyear highs in mid-2022 but as 2022 came to a close, oil and natural gas prices slumped. Key factors weighing on prices at the end of the year included slowing global economic activity and China's tough lockdown measures. We foresee the same factors from 2022 affecting price volatility in 2023 but the magnitude of the anticipated global economic slowdown will be critical. This session will discuss macroeconomic conditions, geopolitical tensions and industry policies, all of which could impact natural gas prices and credit profiles in 2023. We will end with a Q&A for all who wish to participate.