JPY 1,000 billion in shelf registration and JPY 70 billion in new debt securities rated
Tokyo, January 19, 2011 -- Moody's Japan K.K. has assigned a (P)Aa1 rating to
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) JPY 1,000 billion
domestic shelf registration effective October 15, 2009.
At the same time, Moody's Japan K.K. has assigned
an Aa1 rating to the senior secured bond issued by NTT, and which
is a takedown from the shelf registration. The rating outlook is
negative.
The specific bond issue rated is :
JPY 70 billion Series 60 senior secured bond, due 2020
RATING RATIONALE
Moody's assigns a rating of Aa1 to NTT, which is 33.7%
owned by Japan's Ministry of Finance and is regulated under the NTT Law.
As a Government-Related Issuer (GRI), NTT's Aa1 ratings reflect
its baseline credit assessment (BCA) of "2" (on a scale of 1 to 21,
where 1 represents the lowest credit risk, equivalent to Aa1 on
Moody's global rating scale).
NTT's BCA reflects the company's sound credit profile,
given its dominant position in Japan's telecommunications market,
its advanced technological abilities, and its conservative financial
policy.
This assessment also reflects the company's intrinsic credit strengths
-- including a favorable legal and regulatory framework, a
situation that Moody's expects will continue and contribute to low operating
and refinancing risks -- and the credit support that Moody's believes
the Japanese government would provide in a stress situation because of
NTT's vital role in Japan's telecoms market.
The negative outlook reflects Moody's concerns that NTT's
revenue may continue to decline, and earnings could be further pressured,
if it fails to lower its operating costs, and as well as concerns
that improvement to its key financial metrics may be delayed.
Moody's last rating action on NTT was taken on May 18, 2009,
when the Aa1 ratings of NTT were affirmed but its rating outlook was changed
to negative from stable.
The principal methodologies used in this rating were "The Application
of Joint Default Analysis to GRIs" (September 30, 2010) and
"Global Telecommunications Industry" (September 30,
2010), available on www.moodys.co.jp.
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo,
is the leading telecommunications services provider in Japan.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
Information sources used to prepare the credit rating are the following:
parties involved in the ratings, parties not involved in the ratings,
public information, confidential and proprietary Moody's information.
Measures taken to ensure the quality of this information include use of
public information, reviews by a third party and verification by
the lead analyst.
Moody's considers the quality of information available on the issuer
or obligations satisfactory for the purposes of assigning a credit rating.
Moody's adopts all necessary measures so that the information it uses
in assigning a credit rating is of sufficient quality and from sources
Moody's considers to be reliable including, when appropriate,
independent third-party sources. However, Moody's
is not an auditor and cannot in every instance independently verify or
validate information received in the rating process.
Credit ratings are Moody's current opinions of the relative future credit
risk of entities, credit commitments, or debt or debt-like
securities. Moody's defines credit risk as the risk that an entity
may not meet its contractual, financial obligations as they come
due and any estimated financial loss in the event of default. Credit
ratings do not address any other risk, including but not limited
to: liquidity risk, market value risk, or price volatility.
Credit ratings do not constitute investment or financial advice,
and credit ratings are not recommendations to purchase, sell,
or hold particular securities. No warranty, express or implied,
as to the accuracy, timeliness, completeness, merchantability
or fitness for any particular purpose of any such rating or other opinion
or information is given or made by Moody's in any form or manner whatsoever.
The credit risk of an issuer or its obligations is assessed based on information
received from the issuer or from public sources. Moody's may change
the rating when it deems necessary. Moody's may also withdraw the
rating due to insufficient information, or for other reasons.
Moody's Japan K.K. is a credit rating agency registered
with the Japan Financial Services Agency and its registration number is
FSA Commissioner (Ratings) No. 2. The Financial Services
Agency has not imposed any supervisory measures on Moody's Japan K.K.
in the past year.
Please see ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on the Moody's website
for the last rating action and the rating history.
The date on which some Credit Ratings were first released goes back to
a time before Moody's Credit Ratings were fully digitized and accurate
data may not be available. Consequently, Moody's provides
a date that it believes is the most reliable and accurate based on the
information that is available to it. Please see the ratings disclosure
page on the Moody's website for further information.
Please see the Credit Policy page on the Moody's website for the methodologies
used in determining ratings, further information on the meaning
of each rating category and the definition of default and recovery.
Tokyo
Tadashi Usui
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's Japan K.K.
JOURNALISTS: (03) 5408-4110
SUBSCRIBERS: (03) 5408-4100
Tokyo
Shinsuke Tanimoto
Senior Vice President - Team Leader
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's Japan K.K.
JOURNALISTS: (03) 5408-4110
SUBSCRIBERS: (03) 5408-4100
Moody's Japan K.K.
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Moody's assigns Aa1 to NTT domestic bond