Ericsson
Credit rating agency Moody's has assigned an A3 rating to Ericsson issue of $1 billion (€761 million) in US-denominated notes.
Moody's senior vice president, Wolfgang Draack, says the rating “reflects Ericsson's strong market positions, cash generation and conservative capital structure, but also [its] currently depressed margins following management's focus on strengthening its leading market share in advanced technologies.”
Ericsson is currently gaining market share, and its adjusted free cash flow has been positive since April 2011, he said.
Samsung Mobile Display
Samsung's plan to amalgamate its three display panel manufacturers would likely be credit positive for the merged entity.
The vendor has proposed merging Samsung Mobile Display, Samsung Display and S-LCD into a single display business.
According to Moody's the deal would boost Samsung's control of its mobile screen business - Samsung Electronics would have a direct ownership in the merged entity of 84.8%, compared to its 64.4% ownership in Samsung Mobile Display.
It would also “alleviate SMD's very high product and end-market concentration” and mitigate the entity's high technology risk, Moody's states.
Tower Bersama
The credit agency has confirmed its Ba2 rating and stable outlook for Indonesia's Tower Bersama Infrastructure.
The independent tower operator had been on review for a downgrade since February, when it agreed to acquire 2,500 telecom towers from Indosat for up to $519 million.
But in a statement, Moody's revealed it believes that the acquisition of these towers can be “accommodated within the parameters of [the] Ba2 rating.”
The transaction should also allow Tower Bersama to increase its Tier One revenue contribution, and to become Indonesia's largest independent tower provider by total sites, Moody's said.