Moody's affirms Imperial

Moody's Investors Service said it affirmed the ratings within the Imperial group of companies, including:

Imperial Group (Pty) Ltd.'s global scale long-term issuer rating at Baa1, national scale long- and short-term rating at Aa3.za, prime-1.za; Imperial Capital Ltd.'s national scale domestic medium-term note program long- and short-term issuer ratings of Aa2.za, prime-1.za; and Imperial Mobility Finance BV's €300 million 4 ¾% eurobond due 2013, guaranteed by Imperial Holdings Ltd., at Baa1.

The outlook is stable.

Moody's also said it assigned first time ratings to specific debt issues, including Imperial Group (Pty) Ltd.'s R1.2 billion senior unsecured bonds due 2008, R1 billion senior unsecured bonds due 2010 and R1.5 billion senior unsecured bonds due 2014; and Imperial Capital Ltd.'s R1 billion senior secured bonds due 2010 and R500 million senior secured bonds due 2012.

The issuer ratings of Imperial Group, fully and unconditionally guaranteed by Imperial Holdings, global scale ratings reflect Imperial's global default and loss expectation, while the Aa3.za/prime-1.za national scale ratings reflect the standing of Imperial's credit quality relative to its domestic peers, Moody's said.

The ratings factor Imperial's diversified and highly integrated mix of related businesses operating in common value chain around transport and mobility sectors, the agency said.

Although the group has a strong financial profile with good cash generation, the impact of the recent increases in interest rates, the introduction of the National Credit Act and the weaker rand is beginning to show through depressed margins, Moody's added.

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