Transnet clarifies Fitch’s position

Picture: Alessandro Garofalo

Picture: Alessandro Garofalo

Published Jan 21, 2013

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Johannesburg – Transnet on Monday pointed out that Fitch Ratings Agency‚ which last week downgraded the transport parastatal’s rating in line with a downgrade of South Africa’s sovereign rating‚ was not an official rating agency of Transnet.

It felt it was important that investors note that Transnet was officially rated by Moody’s Investor Services and Standard & Poors and that they should rely on the rating reports of these agencies.

“Firstly‚ Transnet wishes to bring to your attention that Fitch Ratings Agency is not an official rating agency of Transnet‚ thus‚ uses publicly available information to perform a desktop rating analysis of Transnet. As such‚ they are not privy to any updated information that may not yet be published.”

“Furthermore‚ they do not engage with Transnet management as would be the case with official rating agencies of Transnet‚ to clarify‚ understand and discuss any strategies contemplated by management‚ challenges experienced and plan to manage these‚” Transnet said in a statement.

“Secondly‚ according to Fitch Ratings analysts‚ the recently published report was not as a result of an analysis and or evaluation done on Transnet as would be the case with the annual publication done by Fitch on Transnet‚ but‚ rather a revision based purely on the Sovereign downgrade. Thus‚ the revision was not based on Transnets performance on a stand-alone basis‚ but on an inherent fact that it is a state-owned company (SOC)‚” the parastatal said. - I-Net Bridge

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