Analysts bullish on ONO after it raises €1.5 billiion

Analysts are bullish on the prospects for ONO after the Spanish cabler said it would issue more notes and use the proceeds to service its existing debt. ONO is raising an extra €300 million of notes.

Credit ratings agency Moody’s said the move was positive and placed ONO’s credit rating on review with a view to an upgrade.
”Including the proposed bond issuance, if successful, ONO will have issued around €1.5 billion worth of bonds since October 2010,” said Ivan Palacios, Moody’s vice-president, senior analyst and lead analyst for ONO. “This is a substantial amount, which will help the company to ease the refinancing of the remaining amounts outstanding under its senior bank facility.”

Separately, ONO has completed its DOCSIS 3.0 upgrade, enabling it to offer 50Mbps internet services in Catalonia, Andalusia, Aragon, Navarra, La Rioja, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Comunidad de Madrid, Valencia, Murcia and the island of Mallorca. The operator has still to upgrade its network in the Canary Islands, which will be completed next year following the laying of a new submarine cable linking the islands to the mainland.

ONO says it now has 250,000 high-speed customers, about 17% of its base.