S&P сменило прогноз рейтинга Казахтелекома на "позитивный"

/REUTERS, Лондон, 18.06.04/ - Международное рейтинговое агентство Standard and Poor's пересмотрело прогноз рейтинга Казахтелекома - национального оператора связи Казахстана - на "позитивный" со "стабильного", сообщило агентство в пятницу. S&P также подтвердило долгосрочный кредитный рейтинг Казахтелекома на уровне "ВВ-". "Пересмотр прогноза отражает растущий спрос на телекоммуникационные услуги, что позволит Казахтелекому преодолеть неопределенности, связанные с более ранней, чем ожидалось, либерализацией рынка международной связи и сложным изменением тарифов", - пишет кредитный аналитик S&P Павел Кочанов. Кредитоспособность Казахтелекома может повыситься, если либерализация рынка не произойдет раньше, чем ребалансировка тарифов, считает S&P. Ниже приводиться оригинальный текст сообщения Standard & Poor's на английском языке. S&P REVISES KAZAKHTELECOM OUTLOOK TO POSITIVE (The following statement was released by the ratings agency) LONDON, June 18 - Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today it revised its outlook on OJSC Kazakhtelecom (KTC), the dominant fixed-line telecommunications operator in Kazakhstan, to positive from stable. At the same time, Standard & Poor's affirmed its 'BB-' long-term corporate credit rating on the company. This action follows the progress made by KTC in its operating performance, as well as an improvement in its liquidity position. "The outlook revision further reflects the growing local demand for telecoms services, which should enable KTC to overcome uncertainties related to the earlier-than-expected liberalization of the long-distance voice services market in Kazakhstan, and challenging tariff rebalancing," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Pavel Kochanov. KTC's credit quality remains fundamentally constrained by the challenge of turning local telephony into a profitable business. This is due to its vast geographical operating area, a network requiring significant capital expenditure, and an unbalanced tariff structure. Expected liberalization of the profitable long-distance market in 2004- 2005 might weaken KTC's market position and performance, particularly if tariff rebalancing is not implemented consistently. Other significant credit risks include exchange rate exposure--nearly all of the company's debt is denominated in foreign currencies--and demands by the Kazakh government (as a majority shareholder) for high dividend payments, which reduce the company's financial flexibility to fund its large capital expenditure requirements. At Dec. 31, 2003, KTC had total adjusted debt of Kazakhstan tenge (KZT) 29.4 billion ($214 million), which represented a modest rise from KZT26.5 billion at Dec. 31, 2002. Nevertheless, KTC continues to benefit from its control of basic fixed-line infrastructure in the country, and fixed-line penetration can potentially grow from the current 15% level. Ahead of market liberalization, KTC's focus on efficiency and network modernization positively affects operating fundamentals. The ratings are further supported by KTC's sound profitability. The company's funds from operations-to-net debt ratio improved to 81% in 2003 from 73% in 2002, and net debt to EBITDA improved to 1.1x from 1.2x, respectively, for the same period. Standard & Poor's expects that the credit quality of KTC might improve, provided that full liberalization of the domestic long-distance and international telephony market is not conducted ahead of tariff rebalancing. This rebalancing will involve increases in local residential tariffs, as well as subsidies from the government to residential customers to support the affordability of basic telecoms services. "Importantly, KTC's strategy to increase its control over the mobile market is not expected to lead to significant deterioration of credit metrics--a primary condition for a rating upgrade," said Mr. Kochanov. Finally, dividend policy and liquidity profile will continue to remain important credit drivers for KTC, and any upgrade would therefore reflect a higher degree of comfort in this respect. [2004-06-18]