Moody’s has downgraded the corporate family rating of Mobilink to B2 from B1 and the senior unsecured rating to Caa1 from B2, with negative outlook, according to a statement on their website.
These rating actions follow Moody’s decision to downgrade Pakistan’s foreign and local currency bond ratings ro Caa1 from B3, with a negative outlook, on 13th July.
This is not reflection of Mobilink’s operations or its own credit rating as an individual entity. At Moody’s non-financial corporate’s are not usually rated more than two notches above the sovereign.
Moody’s stresses that the rating action is not an indication of any deterioration in Mobilink’s credit findamentals.
Yoshio Takahashi, a Moody’s Assistant Vice President said,
“We continue to take into Mobilink’s strong fundamental credit quality by rating its B2 corporate family rating two notches above the sovereign rating. We expect it to maintain its leading market position in the growing mobile market in Pakistan and keep strong financial metrics for its rating level.”
Mobilink spokesperson Hussain Ali Talib said this was purely because of the downgrade in Pakistan’s rating,
“Recently Pakistan’s Moody’s rating has came down and this downgrading has effects on all companies working in Pakistan too. Mobilink’s rating is directly related to the rating of Pakistan, and this downgrade is due to the country’s over all downgrading, and is not reflection of Moblink’s operations.”
Mr. Talib also said that as per policies of Moody’s no company operating in Pakistan can be rated more than two levels above the country’s rating, so Mobilink still has the best possible rating for any Pakistani company.
Via Express Tribune
