Moody’s deals second blow to OTE credit rating within days

Moody’s investors service yesterday demoted by two grades the long-term senior unsecured debt rating of OTE telecoms, from A2 to Baa1, citing risks linked with the utility’s investments in Southeastern Europe. Moody’s recognized that these investments give OTE a strong foothold in neighboring emerging markets but expose it to “significantly higher country risks.” A few days ago, OTE was also downgraded from A to A- by Standard & Poor’s, which cited stronger competition in domestic fixed-line telephony and risks in its Romanian investment.