Fitch prunes Paramount

Fitch Ratings said it downgraded Paramount Global’s long-term issuer default and senior unsecured issue-level ratings to BBB- from BBB and the junior subordinated issue ratings to BB from BB+.

“The downgrade was driven by leverage remaining well outside Fitch's sensitivities for longer than expected. Although Fitch takes comfort from Paramount's significant debt reduction efforts, the company was unable to overcome ongoing industry-wide macroeconomic and operating headwinds,” the agency said in a statement.

Paramount’s Fitch-calculated leverage (5.6x at Dec. 31) stayed outside the BBB rating category for longer than expected, the agency said; however, it was down from the peak of 5.8x at Sept. 30.

The outlook is negative.

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