Following our downgrade of Italy last month, we have reassessed the business risk profiles of Italy-based Atlantia SpA and its toll road network operator Autostrade per I'Italia SpA (ASPI). We now consider Atlantia's and ASPI's business risk profiles to be "strong," compared with "excellent" previously, reflecting our view of an increase in the country risk to which the companies are exposed. We are therefore lowering our long-term corporate credit and issue ratings on Atlantia and ASPI to 'BBB+' from 'A-', and removing them from CreditWatch negative. The negative outlook primarily reflects the risk of a further downgrade in the event of a downgrade of Italy and/or deterioration in the companies' financial profiles, notably if poor macroeconomic conditions depress traffic volumes.
