Ryanair gets a credit rating as it prepares to tap the bond market
RYANAIR was given a credit rating of BBB+ yesterday, taking the budget airline a step closer to issuing bonds.
Standard & Poor’s said the rating reflected Ryanair’s “industry-leading profitability” along with the risks associated with its “reputation for providing less customer-friendly services than some of its peers”.
S&P has deemed Ryanair to be three notches above junk, which the Irish carrier said made it “the highest rated airline in the world”.
S&P has given ratings considered junk, or below investment grade, to airlines including British Airways, Delta and Qantas.
Ryanair is looking to tap the bond markets to fund its purchase of 175 Boeing planes by 2019. The plane deal is worth $16bn at list prices though large orders tend to get steep discounts.
Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers has sold several tranches of bonds backed by the US government-owned ExIm, but is preparing to tap markets directly for the first time to lower its financing costs. The company did not comment yesterday on the timing of its bond issue.