S&P: Allbritton outlook stable

Standard & Poor's said it revised its outlook on Allbritton Communications Co. to stable from negative and affirmed its ratings, including the B- corporate credit rating.

The agency said the rating affirmation and outlook change reflect Allbritton's recent EBITDA turnaround and modest discretionary cash flow generation, which have eased S&P's liquidity concerns about the company, and the company's cushion of compliance with its bank covenants has improved somewhat.

The B- rating reflects Allbritton's still-high debt leverage, earnings and cash flow concentration from limited portfolio diversity, the cyclicality of TV ad revenue and a track record of shareholder-favoring financial policies, S&P said. The lease-adjusted debt-to-EBITDA ratio was 7 times as of Dec. 31.

The company's good position in its TV markets and relatively good EBITDA margin in a peer comparison minimally offset these factors, in S&P's view.

© 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.