Link to Fitch Ratings' Report: Fitch - Complete Sovereign Rating History - September 2013LONDON, September 30 (Fitch) Fitch Ratings has published its Sovereign Ratings History, for ratings up to 27 September 2013. The report is available at www.fitchratings.com or by clicking on the link above. Contact: Eugene Chiam Research Analyst +44 20 3530 1512 Fitch Ratings Limited 30 North Colonnade London E14 5GN Media Relations: Peter Fitzpatrick, London, Tel: +44 20 3530 1103, Email: peter.fitzpatrick@fitchratings.com. Additional information is available at www.fitchratings.com. ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: here. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE. FITCH MAY HAVE PROVIDED ANOTHER PERMISSIBLE SERVICE TO THE RATED ENTITY OR ITS RELATED THIRD PARTIES. DETAILS OF THIS SERVICE FOR RATINGS FOR WHICH THE LEAD ANALYST IS BASED IN AN EU-REGISTERED ENTITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE ENTITY SUMMARY PAGE FOR THIS ISSUER ON THE FITCH WEBSITE.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Friday, September 13, 2013
Fitch: SFR Spin-Off Plan Exposes Vivendi Holders to Event Risk
(The following statement was released by the rating agency) LONDON, September 12 (Fitch) Vivendi's plan to split itself in two exposes bondholders to the risk that they will end up invested in SFR, the group's French telecom operations, rather than its better-performing media assets and Brazil's GVT, Fitch Ratings says. The credit impact on Vivendi's 'BBB' rating would depend mainly on how debt was allocated to the two separate companies in any proposed transaction. Vivendi could end 2013 with a net debt/EBITDA ratio of around 1.3x, assuming it successfully completes its planned disposals of Maroc Telecom and Activision Blizzard, and does not return any cash to shareholders. We believe Vivendi should be able to allocate debt between the two new companies in a way that enables both to achieve 'BBB' ratings, excluding further acquisition-related risks. However, this is likely to mean that more debt will be allocated to SFR as telecoms companies are better suited to sustaining higher leverage than a media company at the same rating level. This assumes that SFR is able to stabilise its financial performance in 2014 and that the price war in the French mobile telecoms market abates. In H113 SFR accounted for 42% of Vivendi's EBITDA from continuing operations. Vivendi has not announced any details of how it would implement a possible demerger of SFR. We believe that the media assets and GVT could be spun off into a new entity, leaving existing Vivendi bondholders invested in the company owning SFR. Change-of-control clauses may not be triggered, meaning Vivendi bondholders are exposed to event risk related to the transaction structure. Vivendi yesterday announced that it is looking at a possible demerger of SFR in 2014. The company also proposed the appointment of Vincent Bollore as Vice-Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Fitch views Mr Bollore's appointment as a signal that the Vivendi board is united behind the plan to demerge SFR. Contact: Damien Chew, CFA Senior Director Corporates +44 20 3530 1424 Fitch Ratings Limited 30 North Colonnade London E14 5GN Michael Dunning Managing Director Corporates +44 20 3530 1178 Simon Kennedy Director Fitch Wire +44 20 3530 1387 Media Relations: Peter Fitzpatrick, London, Tel: +44 20 3530 1103, Email: peter.fitzpatrick@fitchratings.com; Hannah Huntly, London, Tel: +44 20 3530 1153, Email: hannah.huntly@fitchratings.com. The above article originally appeared as a post on the Fitch Wire credit market commentary page. The original article can be accessed at www.fitchratings.com. All opinions expressed are those of Fitch Ratings. ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: here. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE. FITCH MAY HAVE PROVIDED ANOTHER PERMISSIBLE SERVICE TO THE RATED ENTITY OR ITS RELATED THIRD PARTIES. DETAILS OF THIS SERVICE FOR RATINGS FOR WHICH THE LEAD ANALYST IS BASED IN AN EU-REGISTERED ENTITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE ENTITY SUMMARY PAGE FOR THIS ISSUER ON THE FITCH WEBSITE.
Fitch Solutions: Nokia's CDS 59% Tighter Post-Microsoft Buy
(The following statement was released by the rating agency) NEW YORK, September 12 (Fitch) The credit default swap (CDS) market seems to be reacting favorably to Microsoft's plans to acquire Nokia Oyj, according to the latest case study from Fitch Solutions. Following the $7.2 billion acquisition on announcement on Sept.3, CDS spreads on Nokia have tightened 59%, while Microsoft remains largely illiquid. Additionally, the cost of credit protection on Nokia's debt is now at 'BB+' levels. That said, CDS liquidity for Nokia remains high. Trading in the third global percentile, 'Nokia is trading with more CDS liquidity than 97 percent of Fitch's CDS pricing universe, signaling still-high market uncertainty over future pricing,' said Director Diana Allmendinger. Fitch Solutions case studies build on data from its CDS Pricing Service and proprietary quantitative models, including CDS Implied Ratings. These credit risk indicators are designed to provide real-time, market-based views of creditworthiness. As such, they can and often do reflect more short term market views on factors such as currencies, seasonal market effects and short-term technical influences. This is in contrast to Fitch Ratings' Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs), which are based on forward-looking fundamental credit analysis over an extended period of time. Additional information about Fitch Solutions' products is available in the link below: 'here detail=130' Contact: Diana Allmendinger Director +1 212-908-0848 Fitch Solutions, 33 Whitehall Street, New York, NY 10004 Media Relations: Sandro Scenga, New York, Tel: +1 212-908-0278, Email: sandro.scenga@fitchratings.com. Fitch Solutions, a division of the Fitch Group, focuses on the development of fixed-income products and services, bringing to market a wide range of data, analytical tools and related services. The division is also the distribution channel for Fitch Ratings content. Fitch Ratings and Fitch Solutions are part of the Fitch Group, a jointly-owned subsidiary of Fimalac, S.A. and Hearst Corporation. For additional information, please visit 'www.fitchsolutions.com'; 'www.fitchratings.com'; 'www.fimalac.com' and 'www.hearst.com'.