Fitch affirms Reed Elsevier

Fitch Ratings said it affirmed the long-term issuer default ratings and senior unsecured debt of Reed Elsevier plc and Reed Elsevier NV at A- and their short-term issuer default ratings at F2.

The agency also affirmed the senior unsecured ratings for guaranteed notes issued by Reed Elsevier Inc., Reed Elsevier Capital Inc. and Elsevier Finance SA at A-.

The outlook is negative.

The agency said the affirmation takes into account Reed Elsevier's $1.36 billion capital raising on Thursday, which Fitch estimates will reduce the company's unadjusted net debt-to-EBITDA ratio to comfortably below 2.5 times.

However, Fitch said the reduced leverage is offset to some extent by Reed Elsevier's recent financial results and the outlook for the remainder of 2009, which show the economic downturn taking a greater toll on the group than had been expected.

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