Fitch

As Fitch upgrades ratings, Sri Lanka claims it has ended debt default

With the decision by the Hong Kong based Fitch Ratings to upgrade Sri Lanka's credit rating, the island nation has officially ended its debt default, the Finance Ministry said here on Saturday. Fitch upgraded Sri Lanka's long term credit default rating to CCC+ from CCC- on Friday as it said that the risk of another default on local currency debt has been reduced by the completion of the international sovereign bond restructuring and an improved outlook for macroeconomic indicators. Mahinda Siriwardana, a top bureaucrat in the Finance Ministry, said in a statement: December 20 marked a major milestone in our economic recovery process as Sri Lanka officially exited sovereign default. Sri Lanka had plunged into an economic crisis when the island nation declared sovereign default in mid-April of 2022, its first since gaining independence from Britain in 1948. Almost civil-war-like conditions and months of public protests led to the fleeing of the then president Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Rani

Nissan reassigns CFO Ma to China head in management reshuffle: Report

Nissan said last month its half-year net earnings were down more than 90 per cent from the same period last year and cut its annual operating profit forecast by about 70 per cent

Fitch puts some Adani bonds on negative watch after US SEC bribery charges

US prosecutors have charged billionaire Gautam Adani, the group's founder, his nephew Sagar Adani and six others for their alleged roles in a $265-million scheme

Fitch changes global reinsurers' outlook to 'neutral' from improving

Reinsurers, which insure the insurers, have raised their rates in recent years in response to losses from the Covid-19 pandemic, wars and natural catastrophes

Moody's raises India's growth forecasts, Fitch affirms 'BBB-' rating

Global rating agency Fitch on Thursday affirmed India's sovereign rating at 'BBB-' with a stable outlook. India's rating has remained unchanged at 'BBB-', the lowest investment grade, since August 2006. "Fitch Ratings has affirmed India's Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'BBB-' with a Stable Outlook," the global rating agency said in a statement. India's ratings are underpinned by its strong medium-term growth outlook, which will continue to drive improvement in structural aspects of its credit profile, including India's share of GDP in the global economy, as well as its solid external finance position, it said in a statement. Strengthening fiscal credibility from recent achievement of deficit targets, enhanced transparency and buoyant revenues, have increased the likelihood that government debt can follow a modest downward trend in the medium term, it said. Nevertheless, it said, fiscal metrics remain a credit weakness, with deficits, debt and debt servic

Fitch affirms 'BBB+' rating on Larsen & Toubro with stable outlook

Fitch Ratings said it has affirmed 'BBB+' rating with stable outlook on Larsen & Toubro and stressed that the ratings indicate strong financial structure and sound financial flexibility of the company. "Fitch Rating has assigned India's Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) first-time Long-Term Foreign- and Local-Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of 'BBB+'. The Outlook is Stable," the rating agency said in a statement on Tuesday. The ratings reflect the company's strong market position as a large global engineering and construction company with above-average profitability and solid revenue visibility. "We believe L&T's robust record of steady margins, which is backed by adequate risk management and diversification into stable and high-margin IT and technical services businesses, buffers its ratings against the inherent risks in the E&C (engineering and construction) sector," it said. The credit rating agency further said that the stable outlook reflects its view that .

Fitch ups 2024 world growth forecast to 2.6%; cautions on inflation

However, for 2025, Fitch expects world growth to edge down to 2.4 per cent as US growth slows to a below-trend rate of 1.5 per cent and growth in the Eurozone picks up to 1.5 per cent

India's medium-term fiscal consolidation may get more challenging: Fitch

"Our expectation is that the government will look to achieve the 4.5% fiscal deficit target by 2025-26," Jeremy Zook, director - Asia-Pacific sovereigns at Fitch told Reuters in an interview

Coalition, weak mandate may hinder passing ambitious reforms: Fitch

As the NDA is all set to form the government, Fitch Ratings on Thursday said coalition politics and a weakened mandate could make it challenging to pass legislations on ambitious reforms. "We believe major reforms to land and labour laws will remain on the new government's agenda as it seeks to enhance India's manufacturing sector, but these have long been contentious and the NDA's weaker mandate will complicate their passage further. This could reduce the potential upside to India's medium-term growth prospects," Fitch said in a statement. The BJP fell short of a single-party majority in the 543-seat lower house of parliament for the first time since its latest period in government that began in 2014. But Fitch expects it to secure enough support from allied parties in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to form a government with Narendra Modi remaining Prime Minister. The outcome should support broad policy continuity, with the government continuing to prioritise infrastructur

Weak majority for BJP poses challenges to reform agenda, says Fitch

The BJP losing its outright majority and relying on allies to form a government could pose challenges for the more ambitious elements of reform agenda like land and labour, Fitch Ratings said in a note on Wednesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP lost its majority for the first time since 2014, winning 240 seats in the 543-seat Lok Sabha. It plans to form a government with smaller parties in his National Democratic Alliance, which won another 52 seats, giving the alliance a 292-seat majority. "It appears the BJP-led NDA is likely to form the next government, returning Prime Minister Modi for a third term, but with a weakened majority that could pose challenges for the more ambitious elements of the government's reform agenda," Fitch said. As the BJP fell short of an outright majority and will need to rely more heavily on its coalition partners, "passing contentious reforms could prove more difficult, particularly around land and labour, which have recently been flagged as ...

Fitch lowers Boeing 2024 aircraft delivery, free cash flow forecasts

The rating agency forecasts from 350 to 370 737 MAX deliveries and about 65-70 787 deliveries in 2024, below previous expectations of about 400 and 75, respectively

Banks' underwriting standards at risk amid consumer loan growth: Fitch

Fitch Ratings on Monday said Indian banks' risk appetite through higher loan growth will remain a key consideration for their creditworthiness despite improved financial performance. It said asset quality pressures from the previous credit cycle are subsiding, creating a favourable business environment. This has bolstered banks' potential and appetite for growth. Bank loans grew by 16 per cent in the financial year ended March 2024, similar to FY23, exceeding the 8 per cent CAGR (compound annual growth rate) over FY15-FY22. Retail loans constitute around 10 per cent of system loans, and grew at a 20 per cent CAGR since FY21, fuelled by a shift towards unsecured credit to expand margins, the US-based rating firm said. Large private banks gained significant market share in the last credit cycle and continue to grow rapidly; state banks also returned to brisk growth but lagged large private banks, Fitch said in a report titled 'Risk profile weighs on Indian banks' viability ratings ..

Indian Rupee likely to rebound to 82 per dollar on bond inflows: Fitch

The rupee is expected to appreciate to 82 per dollar by the year-end, from about 83.50 currently, said Jeremy Zook who is a director at Fitch in Hong Kong

Fitch expects HCLTech's revenue to grow by 8% in FY24-27, retains rating

Fitch attributed HCLTech's solid market position, diversified customer base, no country ceiling constraint, and robust profitability as some of the key drivers that led the rating

After RBI restriction, Fitch puts IIFL Finance on negative rating watch

"The move reflects a downside risk to IIFL Finance's franchise, profitability and overall risk profile if regulatory restrictions on new gold-backed lending are prolonged," Fitch said in a note

British American Tobacco signals ITC stake disposal, shares soar 7%

The maker of Dunhill and Lucky Strike cigarettes disappointed investors when it opted against a fresh buyback programme last year to focus on reducing debt and investing in new products

Deficit reduction will stabilise debt-to-GDP ratio over medium term: Fitch

Fitch Ratings on Friday said the slightly faster pace of fiscal deficit reduction does not significantly change India's sovereign credit profile but the government's emphasis on deficit reduction will help to stabilise the debt-to-GDP ratio over the medium term. In a post budget commentary, Fitch Ratings Director, Sovereign Ratings, Jeremy Zook said over the next five years, India's government debt-to-GDP ratio would be broadly stable at just above 80 per cent of GDP. This is based on a continued path of gradual deficit reduction, as well as robust nominal growth of around 10.5 per cent of GDP. In the interim Budget 2024-25, presented in Parliament on Thursday, the government revised lower its current year fiscal deficit to 5.8 per cent from 5.9 per cent budgeted earlier. The deficit, which is the gap between the government's revenue and expenditure, will come down to 5.1 per cent in 2024-25 and further to 4.5 per cent by 2025-26. Fitch said this demonstrates a firm desire to adher

Better profitability to support corporate rating headroom: Fitch Ratings

Profit margins of domestic companies are likely to swell by 290 basis points over FY23 levels, boosted by lower raw material costs and rising volume led by local demand, despite faster capacity additions in some industries, which will lead to their rating upgrades next fiscal, says an international rating agency. In a report on the domestic corporates in particular and the economy in general, Fitch Ratings Friday said it seems the profit margins of the corporates it rates jumping by 290 bps above the FY23 levels. But it was quick to warn that a sharp or sustained rise in energy prices, given the ongoing geo-political risks, presents downside risks to the projection. On the economy, it expects the country to be among the world's fastest-growing large sovereigns, with resilient GDP growth of 6.5 per cent in FY25, marginally down from a likely 6.9 per cent GDP print this fiscal. The higher growth will be buoyed by strong demand for cement, electricity and petroleum products. This alon

Lok Sabha elections: Will Modi govt return to power in 2024? Fitch answers

Lok Sabha elections 2024: The agency said that the size of the majority in the next Indian Parliament could influence the ambitiousness of the administration's reform agenda

Moody's warns US top-notch credit rating under threat, lowers outlook

Continued "political polarization in Congress raises the risk that lawmakers will not be able to reach consensus on a fiscal plan to slow the decline in debt affordability," Moody's said