Fitch assigns Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings first-time ‘AA+(lka)’/stable

Fitch Ratings has assigned Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings PLC (ASHH) a National Long-Term Rating of ‘AA+(lka)’. The Outlook is Stable.

ASHH’s rating reflects support from its stronger parent, Aitken Spence PLC (ASP), due to ‘High’ operational and strategic incentives, but ‘Low’ legal incentives, under Fitch’s Parent and Subsidiary Linkage (PSL) Rating Criteria. 

Fitch said assess ASHH’s Standalone Credit Profile (SCP) at ‘aa-(lka)’, supported by cash flow from its hotel portfolio (15 owned, four managed) - mainly in the Maldives and Sri Lanka - alongside low leverage and sufficient access to funding. These strengths are balanced against ASHH’s high exposure to the weakening Maldivian economic environment, it said.

Fitch has assigned a ‘AA(lka)’ National Long-Term Rating to ASHH’s proposed senior unsecured debentures of up to Rs. 5 billion. 

The proposed debentures are rated one notch below the issuer rating, due to material subordination to secured bank debt, which accounts for the large majority of ASHH’s debt structure. Debenture proceeds will be used to settle existing bank debt and payables to ASP, and for capex.