Moody's downgrades Airtel's rating, telco stresses biz strong

Moody's Investors Service Tuesday downgraded the credit rating of Bharti Airtel and the backed senior unsecured notes issued by the telco's Africa arm due to uncertainty around profitability, cash flow and debt levels, but the company stressed that its businesses continue to be diversified and strong.

"Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has downgraded to Ba1 from Baa3 the senior unsecured rating for Bharti Airtel Ltd. (Bharti) as well as the backed senior unsecured notes issued by Bharti's wholly-owned subsidiary, Bharti Airtel Int'l (Netherlands) B.V.," the agency said in statement.

Credit ratings reflect A company's calibre to repay debt and raise funds. Ratings range between Aaa, which means best, to lowest category C. Ba1 rating means obligations are judged to have speculative elements and are subject to substantial credit risk, but have a superior ability to repay short-term debt obligations.

"At the same time, Moody's has assigned a Ba1 corporate family rating (CFR) to Bharti