Fitch affirms Disney

Fitch Ratings said it affirmed the Walt Disney Co.'s issuer default rating at A, senior unsecured debt at A, short-term issuer default rating at F1 and commercial paper at F1. The agency also said it affirmed ABC Inc.'s issuer default rating at A and senior unsecured debt at A, along with Disney Enterprises, Inc.'s issuer default rating at A and senior unsecured debt at A.

The outlook is stable.

The ratings reflect Disney's strong financial flexibility, which is supported by more than $2.5 billion of annual free cash flow, total leverage of about 1.4x and net leverage of below 1x, Fitch said.

Although the company's maturity schedule over the next several years is heavy, with nearly $1 billion of annual maturities through 2013, it will be easily manageable with free cash flow and access to the capital markets, the agency said.

The ratings also consider expectations that the company will concurrently deploy cash for upcoming large capital expenditure programs, Fitch said, as well as share repurchase and moderate mergers and acquisition activity.

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