Credit rating agency Fitch has assigned a BB- rating to Anil Ambani’s telecom service provider Reliance Communications as its long-term foreign and local-currency issuer default rating.
Competing agency Moody's Investors Service has assigned a Ba3 to RCom. Both agencies said the company’s outlook was stable.
Fitch noted that RCom has higher leverage than its peers and a weaker market position. Fitch’s forecast for RCom's net leverage against funds flow from operations at five times for FY-15 is much higher than its peers. Market leader Bharti Airtel's (BBB-/Stable) leverage is below 2.5 times, while Idea Cellular’s is below 3.5 times.
The leverage forecast assumes payments in FY-15 for licences in the March 2015 spectrum auction. The shares of RCom closed at ₹66.25 on the BSE on Tuesday, up 0.68 per cent.