සිය මාධ්‍ය ජාලයේ නවීකරණ කටයුතු වෙනුවෙන් රුපියල් බිලියනයක් රැස්කර ගැනීමට ලයිස්තුගත ණයකර නිකුතුවක් කිරීමට සූදානම් වන මෙරට ප්‍රමුඛතම මාධ්‍ය ජාලයක් වන ඊ.ඒ.පී. බ්‍රෝඩ්කාස්ටින් කෝපරේෂන් ලිමිටඩ් සමාගමට RAM රේටින්ග්ස් සමාගම විසින් BBB ඇගයීමක් ලබාදී තිබේ.
මෙම ණය වර්ගීකරණය මගින් සමාගම සතුව මෙරට රූපවාහිනී කර්මාන්තයේ තිබෙන කැපී පෙනෙන නියෝජනය පිළිඹිබු වනබව සඳහන්ය.
“ඊ.ඒ.පී. බ්‍රෝඩ්කාස්ටින් කෝපරේෂන් ලිමිටඩ් යනු නරඹන්නන් අනුව ගත්විට ලංකාවේ තිබෙන විශාලතම රූපවාහිනී මාධ්‍ය ජාලයක්.“ යනුවෙන් RAM රේටින්ග්ස් සමාගම පවසා තිබේ. මෙම සමාගම මීට පෙර හැඳින්වූයේ EAP Networks Ltd යනුවෙනි.
ඇගයීම පිළිබඳ සම්පූර්ණ වාර්තාව මෙන්න
RAM Ratings Lanka assigns BBB/P3 corporate credit ratings to EAP Broadcasting Company Limited
RAM Ratings Lanka has assigned EAP Broadcasting Company Limited (“EAPB” or “the Company”), formally known as EAP Networks (Pvt) Ltd respective long- and shortterm corporate credit ratings of BBB and P3.
Concurrently, a long-term rating of BBB has been assigned to EAPB’s proposed LKR 1 billion Listed Senior Secured Redeemable Debentures (2013/2018). Both long-term ratings carry a stable outlook.
EAPB is a leading media investment company with interests in a broad spectrum of electronic media such as free-to-air (“FTA”) television broadcasting and radio broadcasting in Sri Lanka.
The ratings are upheld by the Company’s notable presence in TV industry. EAPB has one of the largest television (“TV”) networks in Sri Lanka in terms of viewership, with a strong coverage island-wide.
The Company owns and operates Swarnavahini – a premier TV channel broadcasted in the Sinhala language. The Company’s viewership in 2012 stood at 14.30%, compared to the 15.40% held by the leading private TV broadcaster. EAPB’s viewer ratings were mainly upheld by its news and teledrama broadcasts.
Meanwhile, the ratings are also upheld by EAPB’s adequate debt-protection metrics. EAPB’s debt protection metrics are deemed adequate, despite its increasing debt load. Its funds from operations (“FFO”) debt coverage had improved to 1.08 times as at end-March 2013 from 0.74 times previously. However, debt-funded expansion is envisaged to erode the Company’s FFO debt coverage to 0.45 times in FY Mar 2014. Nevertheless, we expect the ratio to still compare better to that of similar-rated peers.
However, we note the Company is susceptibility to economic cyclicality. The Company’s revenue mainly stems from advertising expenditure (“adex”) and closely reflects TV industry adex, which in turn is highly correlated to the country’s economic cycle. Advertisers tend to reduce adex spending in the event of economic volatility. Given that TV is a more expensive advertising medium, TV adex is highly susceptible to economic cyclicality.
Furthermore, the Company’s working-capital requirements increased owing to the weakening in the receivables cycle which clocked in at 140 days as at end-March 2013. This was largely owing to a slowdown in corporate adex as a result of adverse economic conditions. However, we derive comfort from the Company’s adequate liquidity position to cater to its working capital requirements.
- vimasuma
