Cable And Telecom Firm SFR Outlook Revised To Negative On Management Setbacks, Revised Forecasts; 'B+' Rating Affirmed

Following sustained customer losses resulting from a rate increase and ongoing network quality and client service issues, SFR's third-quarter results were weaker than expected and prompted management changes to remedy operational and managerial setbacks. Although we believe SFR is likely to show resilience, leverage will be higher than we anticipated at end-2017, alongside weaker EBITDA (before restructuring charges) and heavy ongoing capital spending this year, which translates into a structurally weaker credit profile than we previously forecast. We are therefore revising our outlook on SFR to negative from stable and affirming our 'B+' rating. The negative outlook reflects a possible downgrade over the next 12 months if SFR doesn't restore its operations, halt further revenue decline, reduce adjusted debt to

...+ Following sustained customer losses resulting from a rate increase and ongoing network quality and client service issues, SFR's third-quarter results were weaker than expected and prompted management changes to remedy operational and managerial setbacks. + Although we believe SFR is likely to show resilience, leverage will be higher than we anticipated at end-2017, alongside weaker EBITDA (before restructuring charges) and heavy ongoing capital spending this year, which translates into a structurally weaker credit profile than we previously forecast. + We are therefore revising our outlook on SFR to negative from stable and affirming our 'B+' rating. + The negative outlook reflects a possible downgrade over the next 12 months if SFR doesn't restore its operations, halt further revenue decline, reduce adjusted debt to EBITDA to below 5.0x, and generate positive cash flows in line with our base-case FOCF to debt of above 2% in 2018. PARIS (S&P Global Ratings) Nov. 23, 2017--S&P Global Ratings...

Ratings Action