Moody’s lifts WestJet

Moody's Investors Service said it upgraded WestJet Airlines Ltd.'s backed senior secured first-lien term loan B to B1 from B2, and backed senior secured first-lien revolving credit facility to B1 from B2. The agency also raised the corporate family rating to B2 from B3 and the probability of default rating to B2-PD from B3-PD,

"The upgrade reflects our expectation that WestJet's credit and operating metrics will continue to improve over the next 12-18 months" said Aziz Al Sammarai, a Moody's assistant vice president, in a press release. "WestJet's network, operating costs, and EBITDA will improve due to a stable operating environment and from the integration of Sunwing."

The agency is forecasting WestJet’s debt/EBITDA to improve to around 4.8x in 2024.

However, the risks involved in integrating Sunwing and potentially aggressive private equity ownership that could take shareholder-friendly actions also constrain the rating, Moody’s said.

The outlook remains stable.

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