Eskom won a reprieve from Fitch on Wednesday night when the credit rating agency left its view of the power utility unchanged at BB- with a negative outlook. Fitch said its decision to maintain Eskom’s credit rating "reflects that the recently appointed new board and executives have taken active steps to improve corporate governance and liquidity through a syndicated bank loan of R20bn and active co-operation with key suppliers, customers and other stakeholders". "We are encouraged by Fitch Ratings’ decision to affirm Eskom’s credit ratings and we acknowledge the continuing ratings watch negative status," Eskom interim CEO Phakamani Hadebe said in a media release on Thursday morning. Fitch’s decision to hold Eskom’s bonds at its third tier of junk contrasts with Moody’s, which cut the power utility to its fifth tier of junk, and S&P Global Ratings, which cut it to its seventh tier of junk. Moody’s on March 28 downgraded Eskom to B2 with negative outlook, and S&P cut Eskom to CCC+ wi...
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