Telecom major Bharti Airtel said that Moody’s Investors Service has assigned Baa3 issuer rating to Bharti and its 2023 notes issued by Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) BV.
This is the first time that Moody’s has assigned ratings to Bharti and it is at par with India’s sovereign rating, Airtel said on Tuesday.
As per Moody’s rating methodology, this translates into an investment grade rating for Airtel. This is the second investment grade rating for the company from leading global credit rating agencies. The company is already rated investment grade by Fitch, with a stable outlook.
The rating reflects Bharti’s strong market leadership position in India and solid operational performance in Africa, translating into sound credit and business fundamentals. It emphasizes Bharti’s robust and improving leverage ratios, liquidity and cash flow profile.
According to Moody’s, Bharti’s Baa3 rating is underpinned by its receipt of strong and growing cash flows from its Indian operations, particularly in wireless, where it enjoys a well-established and leading market position under the Airtel brand.
The rating outlook is stable based on the expectation that Bharti will continue to grow its core Indian and African wireless businesses and that the group will continue to deleverage both on absolute and relative basis.
