S&P raises MetroPCS; loan BB

Standard & Poor's said it raised the corporate credit rating on MetroPCS Communications Inc. to B+ from B, along with the secured debt rating on subsidiary MetroPCS Wireless Inc. to BB from B+.

The agency also said it affirmed MetroPCS Wireless' B unsecured debt rating, although the recovery rating was revised to 5 from 4. The 5 rating reflects 10% to 30% expected recovery in a default.

The revised recovery rating reflects a reassessment of recovery in a default scenario, with the inclusion of the additional $1 billion of new bank debt proposed, S&P said.

The agency also said it assigned a BB rating to MetroPCS Wireless' proposed $1.5 billion term loan due 2018, which the company will use to repay its $500 million term loan maturing in 2013 and for general corporate purposes, including opportunistic spectrum acquisitions.

The agency also said it assigned a BB rating to its proposed $105 million revolving credit due 2016. A recovery rating of 1 was assigned, indicating 90% to 100% recovery in a default.

The outlook is stable.

The upgrade reflects the company's healthy subscriber growth over the past few years, S&P said.

Despite this degradation in leverage, the company's financial profile is still supportive of the upgrade, given the favorable operating trends, the agency said.

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