S&P ups Qwest Communications

Standard & Poor's said it raised the corporate credit ratings on Qwest Communications International Inc. and incumbent local exchange carrier subsidiary Qwest Corp. to BB from BB- and affirmed the short-term credit rating on Qwest Communications at B-1.

At the same time, the agency said it raised the rating on Qwest Communications' senior secured $850 million revolving credit facility to BB+ from BB.

The BB+ rating, one notch above the corporate credit rating and the recovery rating of 1 indicate expectation of full recovery of principal in the event of a payment default, S&P said, noting that it also raised the unsecured debt ratings, to B+ from B at Qwest Communications and to BB+ from BB at Qwest Corp.

The outlook is stable.

S&P said that the upgrade reflects Qwest's ongoing success in improving its leverage levels over the past few years, primarily the result of an improving cost structure at the long-distance business.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.