Standard & Poor’s (S&P) have given SLT a B+ rating for its upcoming US$ 100 mn unsecured debenture issue, SLT CEO Shuhei Anan said Monday.
|
Foreign currency |
Local currency |
|
| S&P | B+ | BB- |
| Fitch | B+ | BB |
SLT carries a AAA (sri) rating from Fitch Ratings Lanka.
SLT is embarking on an international roadshow to Singapore, Dubai and London later this year to raise debt through a five year bond issue. Monies raised will be utilised to settle loans and fund network rollout.
Subscription for the bonds, which carry a fixed interest rate of 2.25 percent to 3.00 percent above the six months London Interbank offered rate, opens at the sametime as the roadshow.
The issue is jointly managed by Standard Chartered Bank and UBS Warburg.
The cash rich operator posted net profits of Rs. 1,302 mn (down 27 percent), while revenues surged 15 percent to Rs. 22.05 bn, for the nine months ended Sept 30, 2004.
The triple A rated telco giant controls 86 percent of Sri Lanka's fixed-line market and a 15 percent of the cellular market.
Japan's Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. or NTT controls 35 percent of SLT, while the government owns 49.5 percent. A 12 percent government stake was sold through an initial public offering last year and the employees own the balance.
-LBO Newsdesk: lboemail@vanguardlanka.com