S & P lowers rating by one notch Bouygues BBB – Zonebourse.com

rating agency S & P on Monday lowered by one notch long-term credit rating of the Bouygues group face the difficulties of its telecom subsidiary, which may increase with the planned acquisition of competitor SFR Numericable.

In a statement released Monday, S & P, which had been placed under surveillance notes of the diverse group, announced that it lowered it to “BBB +” to “BBB”.

“From our point of view, the greater resistance and more predictable prospects of the group in the construction does not fully compensate for the performance degradation and the strategic uncertainties of its telecom subsidiary,” says agency notation.

Bouygues Telecom, which is number three in the mobile, is struggling since the arrival of Free (Iliad) in Mobile in January 2012 with offers at bargain prices.

redemption announced Vivendi subsidiary SFR by the cable operator Numericable, which should give rise to a new number two behind French telecom Orange, powerful in the fixed and mobile segments, can pose an additional threat to Bouygues Telecom, said S & P. ??

“The absence of a well established and profitable in the fixed position is a disadvantage for Bouygues, especially in a market where quadruple play offers are very popular and used by operators to retain their subscribers, “said the rating agency.

The rise of open tenders, without mobile phone partner, should also continue to weigh on margins operator says S & P, which also concerned about the impact of response measures that the company will have to take to retain customers.

“We believe this will result in a further decline in the Ebitda at the group level, degradation of debt indicators and a deterioration in the risk profile (…) despite the buffering provided by other divisions of the group, “said S & P. ??

The agency predicts a 15% decline in EBITDA of Bouygues in 2014 before a sharp rebound in 2015. In 2016, the group, which also owns the TF1 channel, should return an EBITDA close to that of 2013 thanks to cost reductions in the telecoms and media. (Gwénaëlle Barzic, edited by Marc Angrand)