(Finance) – The agreement with which Vodafone he means sell the Spanish branch in Zegona for 5 billion euros does not affect the credit profile of the British telecommunications giant, according to Fitch Ratings.
The rating agency predicts that the EBITDA margin of the group will improve by 0.6 percentage points in the financial year to March 2025 (FY25), given the lower profitability of the divested business compared to the rest of the group. However, the impact on financial leverage will depend on the use of the proceeds, which is currently unclear. Additionally, it expects a 0.1x decline in EBITDA net leverage if cash is kept on the balance sheet or used to reduce total debt.
Fitch does not believe this transaction will create a significant deterioration of the company profile of the group, given Vodafone’s solid market positions in other major European markets and strong overall geographic diversification.