S&P affirms SingTel

Standard & Poor's said it affirmed the A+ long-term and A-1 short-term corporate credit ratings on Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SingTel) and its related debt issues and programs.

The outlook remains stable.

The affirmation reflects the improved assessment of the likelihood of extraordinary government support for SingTel to moderate from low, and the lowering of its stand-alone credit profile to A from A+.

The agency said it believes SingTel's financial risk profile will remain below expectations for the A+ rating in the next two years.

Competition in SingTel's core markets and the capital demands from investing in new products and services to complement the group's traditional telecommunication services will cause the group's financial risk profile to remain more in line with the A rating, S&P said.

The group's contributions from associate investments should continue to grow, which would shift the group's asset and earnings mix to entities and geographies that generally have lower credit quality than the group's core Singapore and Australian operations, the agency said.

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