S&P Global upgraded Ülker’s sovereign credit rating after the company successfully passed a hypothetical sovereign default stress test against its long-term foreign currency sovereign credit rating on Turkey, including transfer and convertibility scenarios.
“As such, we have upgraded Ülker’s long-term issuer credit and issue ratings and senior unsecured bonds to ‘BB’ from ‘B’,” S&P said, adding that the successful passage of the test reflected a large cash deposit in foreign currency held outside Turkey and a credit-supportive treasury policy.
S&P also emphasized that the stable outlook reflects its expectation that the refinancing will be successful and that Ülker’s operating performance will remain resilient with positive free operating cash flow (FOCF) generation supporting continued profitable growth.
