S&P rates Gabon BB-/B

Standard & Poor's said it assigned a BB- long-term and B short-term sovereign credit ratings to the Republic of Gabon.

The outlook is stable.

S&P said it also assigned a transfer and convertibility assessment of BBB- in light of Gabon's membership of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa.

Gabon's ratings are constrained by the country's narrow economic base, poor social indicators and high income inequalities, the agency said.

The ratings are supported by Gabon's strong balance sheet position, boosted by high oil prices and good economic prospects, S&P said.

Moody's ups Embratel from junk

Moody's Investors Service said it upgraded the global local-currency issuer rating and foreign-currency senior unsecured rating of Empresa Brasileira de Telecomunicacões SA (Embratel) to Baa3 from Ba3 and its Brazilian national scale rating to Aaa.br from A2.br.

The issuer's $ 178 million 11% guaranteed senior unsecured notes due 2008 was upgraded to Baa3 from Ba3.

The outlook is stable. The action concludes the review that began on Sept. 4.

"The upgrade of Embratel's rating by three notches to Baa3 is partially driven by improvement in Embratel's standalone credit quality," Moody's analyst Soummo Mukherjee said in a written statement.

The Baa3 ratings reflect uplift based on expected parent company support, the agency said.

The rating is constrained by Embratel's long-distance segment, Moody's said.

Embratel's ratings could be upgraded if its total debt-to-EBITDA ratio remains below 1.5 times or downgraded if it rises above 2 times, the agency said.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.