S&P affirms Singtel, edits Optus notes to cnAA+

Standard & Poor's said it affirmed its A rating on Singtel Optus Pty. Ltd.

The outlook remains stable.

At the same time, the agency amended the Greater China regional scale rating to cnAA+ from cnAAA, on subsidiary Optus Finance Pty Ltd.'s HK$1 billion of guaranteed notes. S&P inadvertently did not lower the Greater China regional scale rating when it lowered the ratings on Optus on Aug. 22, 2012.

The rating on Optus is based on S&P’s "satisfactory" business risk and "minimal" financial risk profile assessments.

"We have factored in support from Optus' Singapore-based parent SingTel Telecommunications Ltd. because we continue to consider Optus to be a ‘core’ subsidiary of Singtel," S&P credit analyst Richard Creed said in a news release.

"However, the ratings on Optus do not benefit from any uplift stemming from support from the Singapore government, as we don't believe such potential support for Singtel would flow through to Optus. This means the Optus ratings are effectively capped by the standalone credit profile on Singtel."

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