Moody’s raises eircom CFR, loan, notes to B2

Moody's Investors Service said it upgraded the corporate family rating of eircom Holdings (Ireland) Ltd. to B2 from B3, as well as its probability of default rating to B2-PD from B3-PD.

"Our decision to upgrade eir's ratings to B2 reflects the company's improving credit metrics, with adjusted leverage expected to remain sustainably below 5.5x, mainly driven by a strong operating performance and a reduction in the IAS 19 pension deficit," Ivan Palacios, Moody's vice president, senior credit officer and lead analyst for eircom, said in a news release.

Concurrently, the agency upgraded the €2 billion (outstanding) guaranteed senior secured credit facility raised by eircom Finco Sarl and the €350 million guaranteed senior secured notes due 2020 issued by eircom Finance Ltd. to B2 from B3.

The outlook is positive.

"The positive outlook reflects our view that eir's operating performance will continue to improve over the next 12-18 months, mainly driven by growth in eir's fibre broadband customers, increases in the average revenue per household, improving mobile performance and sustained cost cutting efforts. These will allow eir to generate growing free cash flows, and to reduce debt further," Palacios added in the release.

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