BCE Inc. CCR Affirmed At 'BBB+'; Liquidity Assessment Revised To Adequate From Strong On Heavy Use Of Commercial Paper

We are affirming all of our ratings on BCE Inc. and subsidiary Bell Canada (collectively, BCE), including our 'BBB+' long-term corporate credit rating on the company. We are also revising our liquidity assessment on the company to adequate from strong, reflecting a weaker sources-to-uses ratio because of Bell Canada's fairly heavy use of commercial paper. Our liquidity assessment still incorporates the company's solid cash flow, good access to capital markets, and level annual maturities in the next few years. The outlook is stable, based on our view that slower revenue growth in Bell's wireless and wireline operations will necessitate good cost control to boost EBITDA and reduce leverage slowly. TORONTO (Standard&Poor's) March 7, 2016--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services

...+ We are affirming all of our ratings on BCE Inc. and subsidiary Bell Canada (collectively, BCE), including our '###+' long-term corporate credit rating on the company. + We are also revising our liquidity assessment on the company to adequate from strong, reflecting a weaker sources-to-uses ratio because of Bell Canada's fairly heavy use of commercial paper. + Our liquidity assessment still incorporates the company's solid cash flow, good access to capital markets, and level annual maturities in the next few years. + The outlook is stable, based on our view that slower revenue growth in Bell's wireless and wireline operations will necessitate good cost control to boost EBITDA and reduce leverage slowly. TORONTO (Standard & Poor's) March 7, 2016--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services affirmed all of its ratings on BCE Inc. and subsidiary Bell Canada (collectively, BCE), including its '###+' long-term corporate credit rating on the company. The outlook is stable. At the same time, Standard...

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