| Add to balance / Manage account | User: | Log out |
| Prospect News home > News index > List of issuers T > Headlines for Transnet SOC Ltd. > News item |
Fitch downgrades Eskom, Transnet, MTN
Fitch Ratings said it downgraded Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd.’s long-term local currency issuer default rating and senior unsecured local currency rating to BB+ from BBB-.
The agency also lowered Transnet SOC Ltd.’s long-term foreign currency and local currency issuer default ratings, along with its foreign currency and local currency senior unsecured ratings to BB+ from BBB-. Its short-term foreign currency and local currency issuer default ratings were downgraded to B from F3.
Furthermore, Fitch downgraded MTN Group Ltd.’s long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating to BB+ from BBB-.
The actions follow the April 7 downgrade of South Africa's long-term foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings to BB+ from BBB-. The outlooks are stable.
Fitch said it continues to assess the links between Eskom and the South African state as strong, with significant emphasis placed on the Guarantee Framework Agreement, which leads to a rating alignment with the sovereign.
Transnet's ratings are constrained by the sovereign rating, as the agency typically does not rate state-owned entities above the sovereign. Fitch assesses the links between Transnet and the sovereign as moderate to strong, which until 2015 led to a one-notch uplift of Transnet's rating from the standalone level.
Finally, the agency said MTN's rating reflects the weakness of the macroeconomic and operating environments of the company’s main operating subsidiaries in South Africa and Nigeria. The FX mismatch between net debt and cash flow could lead to higher leverage if the U.S. dollar strengthens. MTN's rating is constrained by the South African sovereign rating.
© 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.