Moody's Affirms MAHB's Rating At A3, Outlook Revised To Stable

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 (Bernama) -- Moody's Investors Service has affirmed the A3 issuer rating of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) and has revised its outlook to stable from positive. The rating action follows Moody's revision of Malaysia's sovereign rating outlook to stable from positive earlier today, Moody said in a statement Monday. The sovereign rating was also affirmed at A3. "The change in outlook on MAHB's rating to stable, which was prompted by the change in the outlook of Malaysia's sovereign rating to stable from positive, reflects the company's close operational and financial links with the government, and its dependence on the domestic macro-economic environment," Moody's Vice-President and Senior Analyst Ray Tan said. As such, a change in the overall credit profile of the Malaysian government which is the support provider under our joint default analysis approach, will likely impact the credit profile of MAHB. The two-notch uplift reflects Moody's assessment that MAHB would receive support from the government in a distressed situation given MAHB's important policy role and its contribution to Malaysia's tourism, export and aviation industries. MAHB's stable rating outlook reflected the anticipated recovery in passenger growth in Malaysia and consequent improvement in credit metrics. MAHB Group recorded passenger traffic growth of 4.9 per cent for the eleven months ended November 2015, which was largely driven by the strong passenger traffic growth at Sabiha Gokcen International Airport in Istanbul, Turkey. Its airports in Malaysia recorded weak passenger traffic growth of 0.7 per cent in the first 11 months of 2015. Moody's expects growth in passenger traffic, associated with the Malaysian segment, to recover between two per cent and four per cent in 2016, it said. Upward rating pressure is unlikely, given that the rating is at the same level as that of the government, said the rating agency. -- BERNAMA