Milan, October 15, 2019 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has today
assigned a B1 rating to the proposed EUR 350 million senior secured notes
due 2025, to be issued by eircom Finance Designated Activity,
a subsidiary of eircom Holdings (Ireland) Limited ("eir")
or the group. The outlook is stable.
Proceeds from this debt issuance will be used to partially repay the existing
EUR 1.8 billion term loan due in May 2026 issued by eircom Finco
S.a.r.l.
"The refinancing is leverage neutral and will bring some interest savings,
supporting free cash flow generation, but could reduce modestly
the weighted debt maturity profile," says Ernesto Bisagno,
a Moody's VP-Senior Credit Officer and lead analyst for eir.
RATINGS RATIONALE
The B1 rating on the proposed notes is in line with the rating on existing
notes, Term Loan B and corporate family rating of B1. The
notes are guaranteed by the same entities that guarantee the senior credit
facility and are secured over the same collateral, on a pari passu
basis, with the senior credit facility.
Moody's notes that the transaction is leverage neutral since proceeds
from the senior secured notes issuance will be used to partially repay
the existing EUR 1.8 billion term loan, hence not affecting
the group's Moodys-adjusted debt/EBITDA of 4.8x as
of June 2019. The transaction will support free cash generation
over fiscal 2020, as annual interest savings will amount to around
EUR 6 million.
While the refinancing could reduce moderately the weighted average life
of the debt, the maturity profile of the company remains well extended
with no debt repayment due before 2025.
eir's B1 corporate family rating reflects the company's (1) integrated
business model and improving network quality; (2) leading position
in the fixed-line market as Ireland's incumbent operator,
its position as the third-largest operator in the mobile segment
and its acquisition of key content that enables it to provide quadruple-play
offerings; and (3) significant improvement in leverage and financial
flexibility over recent years, driven by stronger cash flow generation,
reduced interest expenses and — more recently — a lower IAS
pension deficit.
The rating also reflects eir's (1) still moderate yet improving free cash
flow (FCF)/net debt and relatively high leverage compared with European
incumbents; (2) the more aggressive financial policy signaled by
the dividend recapitalisation completed in April 2019 and some weakening
in liquidity management; and (3) the highly competitive environment
in the Irish market and Ireland's (A2 stable) economic susceptibility
to adverse effects from the Brexit uncertainty.
RATIONALE FOR STABLE OUTLOOK
Moody's expects adjusted leverage to improve to 4.6x in fiscal
2021 from 4.8x at June 2019, supported by positive earnings
growth and good free cash flow generation. The stable outlook reflects
Moody's expectation that eir will continue to make progress on its
main key performance indicators by investing in its fibre and mobile networks
and executing its convergent strategy. Moody's expects this
strategy, together with cost savings, to lead to medium-term
EBITDA growth in low-single digits in percentage terms.
WHAT COULD MOVE THE RATING UP/DOWN
Upward pressure on eir's rating would be supported by a continued improvement
in its operating performance, and revenue and EBITDA growth,
such that the company's adjusted debt/EBITDA declines below 4.25x
and retained cash flow/debt remains above 15%, both on a
sustained basis. Upward rating pressure would also stem from a
significant improvement in its FCF/net debt and a track record of a more
conservative financial strategy implemented by shareholders.
Downward pressure on eir's rating could materialise if the company's operating
performance weakens, with substantial pressure on its revenue or
a significant deterioration in either its margins or main key performance
indicators (subscriber growth, ARPUs and market share), leading
to weaker-than-expected credit metrics, including
adjusted debt/EBITDA trending sustainably above 5.0x, retained
cash flow/debt remaining consistently below 10% and negative FCF
generation. In addition, the rating could be strained if
there were evidence of more aggressive financial policies or a significant
deterioration in the company's liquidity.
PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGY
The principal methodology used in these ratings was Telecommunications
Service Providers published in January 2017. Please see the Rating
Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this
methodology.
COMPANY PROFILE
eircom Holdings (Ireland) Limited is the parent company of eircom limited
(eir), an integrated telecommunications provider that offers quad-play
bundles, including high-speed broadband, mobile,
TV and sports content, over its convergent fixed and mobile networks.
eir is the principal provider of fixed-line telecommunications
services in Ireland. The group is the third-largest mobile
operator in Ireland, with a subscription market share of around
19.8% (excluding mobile broadband and machine-to-machine).
eir reported revenue of EUR 1.2 billion and EBITDA of EUR 578 million
for the fiscal year ended June 2019.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For ratings issued on a program, series, category/class of
debt or security this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures
in relation to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the
same series, category/class of debt, security or pursuant
to a program for which the ratings are derived exclusively from existing
ratings in accordance with Moody's rating practices. For ratings
issued on a support provider, this announcement provides certain
regulatory disclosures in relation to the credit rating action on the
support provider and in relation to each particular credit rating action
for securities that derive their credit ratings from the support provider's
credit rating. For provisional ratings, this announcement
provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the provisional
rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive rating that may
be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt, in each
case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed prior
to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would have
affected the rating. For further information please see the ratings
tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com.
For any affected securities or rated entities receiving direct credit
support from the primary entity(ies) of this credit rating action,
and whose ratings may change as a result of this credit rating action,
the associated regulatory disclosures will be those of the guarantor entity.
Exceptions to this approach exist for the following disclosures,
if applicable to jurisdiction: Ancillary Services, Disclosure
to rated entity, Disclosure from rated entity.
Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit
rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating
review.
Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to
the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has issued
the rating.
Please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.
Ernesto Bisagno, CFA
VP - Senior Credit Officer
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's Italia S.r.l
Corso di Porta Romana 68
Milan 20122
Italy
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454
Ivan Palacios
Associate Managing Director
Corporate Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454
Releasing Office:
Moody's Italia S.r.l
Corso di Porta Romana 68
Milan 20122
Italy
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454