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Jun. 18, 2018 5:49 AM ET|About: Audi AG (AUDVF)|By: Yoel Minkoff, SA News Editor
Audi (OTCPK:AUDVF) CEO Rupert Stadler has been arrested, according to a spokesman for parent company Volkswagen (OTCPK:VLKAF).
He's the highest sitting executive to be taken into custody since the decade-long diesel cheating scandal was exposed by U.S. regulators nearly three years ago.
The arrest comes a week after the Audi chief's private apartment was raided by Munich prosecutors.
 

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Korea, Government of
Related Research
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Credit Opinion: Government of Korea – Aa2 Stable: Update following rating affirmation, outlook unchanged
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Country Statistics: Korea, Government of
Announcement: Moody's: Currency depreciation poses risk to APAC emerging markets with high external funding needs
Announcement: Moody's: Asia's reliance on exports continues, while China's role in regional trade is increasing in importance
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Issuer Comment: Government of Korea: For Korea, summit in Panmunjom is progress toward reduced geopolitical risk, a credit positive

Rating Action:
Moody's affirms Korea's Aa2 rating; maintains stable outlook
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18 Jun 2018
Singapore, June 18, 2018 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has today affirmed the Aa2 issuer and senior unsecured bond ratings of the Government of the Republic of Korea (South Korea), as well as its (P)Aa2 senior unsecured shelf rating. The outlook remains stable.



The key drivers for the rating affirmation are:

• South Korea's large and diversified economy will continue to demonstrate resilience to global shocks;

• Geopolitical risk owing to historical tensions versus North Korea have ebbed, but remain elevated; and

• South Korea's public finances will remain sound and are further enhanced by ongoing implementation of structural reforms.



South Korea's long-term foreign currency bond ceiling remains unchanged at Aa1. The foreign-currency deposit ceiling remains at Aa2, while the local-currency bond and deposit ceilings remain at Aaa. The short-term foreign-currency bond and deposit ceilings remain unchanged at P-1.



RATINGS RATIONALE



RATIONALE FOR THE AFFIRMATION OF SOUTH KOREA's Aa2 RATING



FIRST DRIVER: ECONOMIC RESILIENCE TO GLOBAL SHOCKS



Moody's expects South Korea's healthy real GDP growth to continue in the near term, supported by the still favorable outlook for external demand, accommodative fiscal policies, and robust consumption on the back of steady income growth. Real GDP growth had accelerated to 3.1% in 2017 from 2.8% the year before, representing the fastest pace of growth among advanced G-20 economies. Over the medium term, South Korea's growth potential is likely to slow as an aging population leads to declines in the working age population. Moody's expects that these effects will be partly offset by comparatively strong productivity growth, supported by investment in innovation.



Beside robust growth potential, Moody's expects South Korea's economy to continue to show a high degree of resilience to shocks, including external shocks.



While rising trade protectionism poses risks for trade-reliant economies, the South Korean economy's broad diversification, high level of competitiveness, and fiscal space mitigates its export dependency. The range of South Korea's exports span from heavy industries, such as automobile manufacturing and shipbuilding, to more capital-intensive sectors such as semiconductors and other electronics, which in turn reflect the economy's integration in regionally dispersed supply chains across a wide range of product segments. International tourism and logistics have also bolstered services on the back of South Korea's advantages in infrastructure. The government also maintains the scope for countercyclical support for the economy.



Moreover, overall economic conditions are unlikely to be directly impacted by tightening global liquidity conditions or capital flow volatility on account of South Korea's very large external buffers. Moody's projects the current account surplus to remain in excess of 5% of GDP, while the net international investment position will also continue to record a net surplus as the economy's reliance on external financing—as represented by the moderating trend of external debt as a share of GDP—is low.
 
Fitch Affirms AT&T's IDRs at 'A-'; Upgrades Time Warner to 'A-'; Outlook Stable
18 JUN 2018 5:16 PM ET


Fitch Ratings-Chicago-18 June 2018: Fitch Ratings has affirmed the 'A-' Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) and debt security ratings of AT&T Inc. (AT&T) (NYSE: T) and its subsidiaries. The company's Short-Term IDR and Commercial Paper ratings have been affirmed at 'F2'.

Fitch has also upgraded the IDRs of Time Warner Inc. and its subsidiaries to 'A-' from 'BBB+'. In addition, Time Warner's Short-Term IDRs and Commercial Paper ratings have been affirmed at 'F2'.

A full list of rating actions follows at the end of this release. The Rating Outlook is Stable.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Acquisition of Time Warner: Fitch believes AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner provides AT&T with a strong foothold in the evolving communications and media landscape, including the growing prominence of alternative distribution platforms and audience fragmentation in the context of a stagnant multichannel video subscriber base. The acquisition, combined with AT&T's 2015 acquisition of DIRECTV, offers the potential to capitalize on emerging trends for mobile video and over-the-top (OTT) video delivery. Other benefits include the diversification of AT&T's revenue stream, and additional financial flexibility owing to Time Warner's strong free cash flow (FCF).

Time Warner's Strong Asset Portfolio: The stability, recurring revenue and FCF generation of the cable networks businesses (Turner and Home Box Office) benefit AT&T's going forward credit profile. Fitch also acknowledges the secular pressures on these businesses. In addition, AT&T and Time Warner will benefit from the stability, recurring dual-stream revenue profile, high operating margin and FCF generation of the cable networks businesses.

Leading Content Creator: The ratings incorporate the strong competitive position of Time Warner's film and television studios at Warner Bros. The size and scale of Warner Bros.' television studio enables AT&T and Time Warner to capitalize on strong demand for television content while providing meaningful diversification of revenue sources. As Warner Bros.' videogames business grows it also adds to this diversification.

Credible Strategy to Address Threats: Fitch believes the acquired Time Warner assets are well-positioned to address the secular threats and opportunities presented by alternative distribution platforms and continued audience fragmentation across the media and entertainment landscape.

Near-Term Leverage Elevated: In the immediate 12 to 18 months following the merger with Time Warner, AT&T's gross leverage, calculated on a core telecom leverage basis, will be slightly above Fitch's 2.5x gross leverage threshold for the current 'A-' rating.

Deleveraging Expected: On the close of the Time Warner transaction, AT&T indicated net leverage would approximate 2.5x at the end of year one after the close, and over four years the company would delever to historical levels of around 1.8x, as FCF is used to reduce debt (note that AT&T's calculations do not adjust for the deconsolidation of financial services debt related to handset financing). In addition to the incremental FCF from Time Warner in 2018 and beyond, Fitch expects a slight reduction in capital intensity over time via AT&T's network initiatives, and the lower capital intensity of Time Warner's operations.

Core Telecom Leverage: Fitch's leverage calculations reflect core telecom leverage. To determine core telecom leverage, Fitch has applied a 5:1 debt to equity ratio to the company's handset receivables, after adding back off balance sheet securitizations.

FirstNet: AT&T won a bid to build and manage a nationwide broadband network dedicated to first responders. Under the agreement, AT&T acquired 20 MHz of low band spectrum and will receive $6.5 billion in success-based payments. AT&T expects to spend $40 billion over the 25-year life of the contract to build, deploy, operate and maintain the network. All 56 eligible states and other jurisdictions (D.C. and five territories) opted into the network. AT&T can use the network for commercial purposes, although first responders will have priority access to the network when needed.
 

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