Ciao Azetaelle, ho reperito un commento piuttosto positivo di Moody's che soprattutto - è quanto mi interessava - mi ha confermato che ICAP non dovrebbe fare trading proprietario (ossia fa brokeraggio soltanto intermediando soldi altrui e prendendo una provvigione sulle transazioni).
Ci sono diversi elementi piuttosto positivi, seppure nel contesto di un'attività che - in caso di crisi dei mercati finanziari - si troverebbe giocoforza esposta, sebbene invece l'andamento del fatturato dimostri che trae vantaggio dalle fasi di volatilità elevata, così come anche ed all'opposto paraddossalmente - in caso di forte regolamentazione dei mercati finanziari - potrebbe essere esposta a cali dei volumi operativi.
Il bond in questione è un senior unsecured, non è uno dei subordinati emissibili ai quali fa riferimento il commento...
Moody's affirms Baa2 ratings for ICAP plc; assigns Baa2 rating to senior notes of ICAP Group Holdings plc and guaranteed senior notes of ICAP plc;
Also assigns Baa2 Corporate Family Rating to ICAP plc.
London, 07 July 2009 -- Moody's Investors Service assigned a rating of Baa2 to the long-term senior unsecured notes issued under the GBP1 billion Global Medium Term Note (MTN) programme established by both ICAP Group Holdings plc ("IGHP") and ICAP plc ("ICAP") as issuers. The senior unsecured notes issued by ICAP are unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by IGHP. In addition, Moody's assigned a rating of Baa3 to the dated subordinated notes issued by IGHP under the above-mentioned MTN programme. Moody's also assigned a Baa2 Corporate Family Rating to ICAP. The outlook on all ratings is stable.
ICAP plc's Baa2 Corporate Family Rating (CFR) reflects the group's leading franchise in inter-dealer broking, its diversified revenue streams by business line, product, clients and geography, as well as the very limited market and credit risk to which it is exposed. In addition, the rating takes into account the group's moderate financial leverage, its sound operating profitability, as well as its cost-base flexibility. It also reflects its core business correlation with market volatility and volumes, as well as continuous investment in technology. The rating is constrained by the firm's appetite for acquisitions and its possible effect on the company's leverage ratios.
The provisional ratings assigned to the senior unsecured notes issued by IGHP and guaranteed senior unsecured notes issued by ICAP reflect the fact that the notes will rank pari-passu with the bank facilities that have been transferred earlier in 2009 to IGHP and that IGHP's EBITDA will represent at least 85% of ICAP plc's consolidated EBITDA.
The Baa3 rating for dated subordinated notes that may be issued by IGHP reflects a one-notch differential from the institution's Baa2 senior debt rating, in line with Moody's notching practice for subordinated notes. Furthermore, Moody's said that it would withdraw ICAP's issuer rating of Baa2, thereby adjusting the current rating structure of the group to more accurately reflect the corporate debt structure.
Importantly, Moody's has re-examined ICAP's corporate structure, and in particular the various liabilities at each level of the group. In this respect, it is Moody's understanding that the raising of debt is centrally controlled and that operating companies are therefore restricted from issuing debt and in establishing bank facilities or taking on other substantial claims, though we have taken into account the fact that operating businesses have some liabilities, albeit to a very limited extent.
As a result, the CFR rating also incorporates the group's more complex structure -- with many operating companies and sources of cash flows. Furthermore, given the lack of structural subordination of the bulk of the cash flows to IGHP, we believe that the rating of senior unsecured notes guaranteed by IGHP should reflect our view on the overall strength of the group, and thus be aligned to the Baa2 Corporate Family Rating. That said, in the absence of such a guarantee we would see ICAP as structurally subordinated to IGHP.
Overall, we believe that ICAP continues to be well positioned to generate relatively stable operating margins, and strong and predictable operating cash flows, as demonstrated over 2008/9 when the company continued to see a positive trend in profitability with revenues growing to GBP1,601 million, from GBP1,106 million for the year to 31 March 2008. This trend has thus far prevailed through the global financial crisis, despite (i) the demise of some important clients for ICAP, namely Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, and (ii) a fall in volumes in some products -- particularly in the last quarter of 2008.
Moreover, we expect ICAP's core businesses to continue to benefit from positive underlying trends, supported by the growth of OTC markets in Europe and emerging markets, and to be able to preserve its franchise given the high barriers to entry in the industry, despite continuous pressure to reduce fees and improve its operating efficiency. Moody's anticipates that ICAP's ability to maintain or somewhat improve its operating margins could also be driven by continuous investment in technology, IT platform integrations, cost reductions and a streamlining of its operations.
However, we highlight that ICAP's intrinsic credit strengths are somewhat tempered by the limited scope of its business line (it remains essentially a mono-line business focused on brokering services, even though it is developing post-trade services) and by the challenges posed by the potential future evolution of the industry - notably: (i) OTC regulatory reforms and the changes in market structure it implies, (ii) continued industry consolidation resulting in the need to make further acquisitions in order to maintain market leadership, (iii) sustained pressure on the IDBs to lower brokerage fees, and (iv) more intense competition from exchanges and, possibly, other IDBs.
The last rating action on ICAP was on June 16, 2008 when the Baa2 and Baa3 ratings were first assigned to respectively long-term senior unsecured notes and dated subordinated notes, issued under the former GBP 1 billion Global Medium Term Note programme established by ICAP plc.
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Incorporated in the UK, ICAP plc is headquartered in London. At 31 March 2009, the company posted total revenues of GBP1,601 million and total shareholders' equity of GBP1,140 million.
