We assess the stand-alone credit profile of Leighton to be 'bbb', which is in line with our stand-alone credit estimate on Leighton's immediate parent, Hochtief AG. Grupo ACS is the ultimate controlling shareholder of Hochtief and Leighton. The group credit profile of the Grupo ACS group is 'bb+', based on our credit estimate. Due to the presence of debt ring fencing at Hochtief, we consider Hochtief and Leighton's credit quality to be partially insulated from that of Grupo ACS. As a result, we have affirmed the 'BBB-' long and 'A-3' short term ratings on Leighton. The outlook is stable. At the same time, we have removed the ratings from CreditWatch with negative implications, where they were placed on March 11,
