S&P puts Go-Ahead on watch

S&P said it placed its ratings for the Go-Ahead Group plc and its £250 million of 2.5% senior unsecured notes due July 2024 on CreditWatch with negative implications.

The CreditWatch placement follows Go-Ahead reporting it is delaying the filing of its audited reports for the fiscal year ended July 3, 2021, S&P said. The company does not expect to be able to provide financial statements by the required Jan. 3, 2022, deadline. Instead, it now expects to publish the accounts by the end of January.

“We understand this is primarily due to additional time required to assess the implications of findings of an independent review of London & South Eastern Railway's (LSER's) past performance under the Southeastern rail franchise agreement. The review was initiated after the Department for Transport (DFT) identified errors in the historical calculation of profit share in this contract,” the agency said in a press release.

S&P said it aims to resolve the CreditWatch once Go-Ahead files its financials, and it has conducted further analysis, including of the company’s contingency management and internal controls, and greater clarity regarding any potential penalty from DFT and its effect on Go-Ahead's credit profile.

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