Moody’s to review credit ratings of 11 Turkish firms
ISTANBUL
Credit rating agency Moody’s announced on June 6 that it would review the credit ratings of 11 Turkish companies with regard to their solvency.
Anadolu Efes, Coca-Cola İçecek, Doğuş Holding, Ereğli Demir ve Çelik (Erdemir), Koç Holding, Ordu Yardımlaşma Kurumu (OYAK), Rönesans Gayrimenkul Yatırım, Turkcell, Turkish Airlines (THY), Türkiye Petrol Rafinerileri (TÜPRAŞ) and Türkiye Şişe ve Cam Fabrikaları (Şişecam) are listed as the companies put under review.
“Placement of ratings on review for downgrade reflects Moody’s view that the credit quality of the aforementioned corporates is correlated to varying degrees to that of the Government of Turkey, given the companies’ high dependence on their Turkish operations for revenue and cash flow generation,” Moody’s stated.
“The review will assess the credit implications and potential vulnerabilities on each of the company’s ratings in the context of a currently challenging operating environment. In particular, Moody’s will assess the impact of the macro-economic environment on the various companies’ liquidity profiles and ability to refinance approaching debt maturities, valuations and the weakening lira on costs structures and foreign currency debt obligations,” it added.
The outlooks for all the mentioned corporates have been stable except for Doğuş Holding, which has a negative outlook.
Moody’s has also put Turkey’s sovereign credit rating under review.
In a written statement early in June, Moody’s said its “decision to place the current [Ba2] rating under review reflects mounting uncertainty regarding the future direction of macroeconomic policy.”
The statement said Turkey’s “already vulnerable external position” will “raise the risk of severe pressures on Turkey’s balance of payments to a level that is no longer consistent with the current rating.”
Moody’s on March 8 downgraded Turkey’s sovereign rating to “Ba2” from “Ba1” and changed its outlook to “stable” from “negative.”
Separately, credit rating agency Fitch said it would place 25 Turkish banks’ ratings on watch negative on May 22.