Halister News

(Bloomberg) -- Sharp upturn in passenger traffic is expected to boost revenue yields and load factors, while cost and capacity measures by both Turkish Airlines and Pegasus Airlines seen supporting operating profitability, Deniz Investment analyst Selim Kunter writes in report.

• Says airline officials cited an uptrend in future bookings and have noted that the strong growth will continue in the coming months and that the competitive pressure on pricing is waning
• Revises 2017 forecasts upward, raises target EV/Ebitdar multiples by 0.6 for both
• Upgrades Turkish Airlines to buy vs hold, PT: 8.20 liras, suggesting 20% upside from last close
• Increases recommendation for Pegasus Airlines to hold vs sell, PT: 19.50 liras, suggesting 14% upside from Monday’s close

To contact the reporter on this story: Tugce Ozsoy in Istanbul at tozsoy1@bloomberg.net

(Bloomberg) -- Here’s a roundup of Indian co. debt-rating changes.

• To get this story sent to your inbox real-time, run NI INRATINGS , click on Display & Edit, then Set Alert Delivery

DOWNGRADES

• Bhatia Wine Merchants
  • Long-term bank facilities cut to BBB- from BBB at Crisil
  • Cites weakening of liquidity due to additional debt of INR300m taken for incremental working capital requirement

• Envirad Projects
  • LT bank facilities cut to BB from BB+ at Crisil
  • Cites decline in operating income

• Reliance Communications
  • LT bank facilities, NCDs cut to BB from A- at Care
  • Cites increased competition, high debt levels, lower cash accruals

• RSL Distilleries
  • LT bank facilities cut to B- from B at Crisil
  • Cites delay in commencement of operations

UPGRADE

• Sun Direct TV
  • LT bank facilities raised to BBB+ from BBB at Crisil
  • Cites strong market position in South India, improving average revenue per user and growing net subscriber base

--DEREK WALLBANK

(Bloomberg) -- S&P Global Ratings analysts including Senior Director Kim Eng Tan will visit S.Korea as part of an annual review of the country’s sovereign rating, according to an e-mailed statement from the finance ministry.

• S&P analysts to visit Finance Ministry, Unification Ministry, Financial Services Commission, and Bank of Korea
• Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho to meet S&P officials on Tuesday and explain the economy’s recovery trend and government’s policy efforts: statement
• S&P to also meet Kim Jin-pyo, the chair for the new government’s state affairs planning committee
• S&P’s visit is the first by a credit rating agency after the new administration; topics including recent economy, policy directions, geopolitical risk, trade issues with the U.S. and China, and household debt, are expected to be discussed 
• Annual meeting with Moody’s, Fitch to be held in 2H

To contact the reporter on this story: Brett Miller in Tokyo at bmiller30@bloomberg.net

(Bloomberg) -- Symantec says it was “highly likely” a hacking group affiliated with North Korea was responsible for the WannaCry cyber attacks, Reuters reports, citing the co.

• Previous versions of worm used in attacks earlier this year “almost identical” to the one that spread to more than 150 countries; used hacking tools and infrastructure seen in previous cyber operations linked to Lazarus hacking group
  • Lazarus previously linked to North Korea by U.S. government and cyber security researchers
• NOTE: Symantec, Kaspersky were looking into whether Lazarus Group was behind the attack earlier