PARIS, March 27 (Reuters) - Credit rating agency Moody's on Wednesday cut its rating on telecoms and cable company Altice France Holding to Caa2 from B3, highlighting the financial pressures faced by the company owned by billionaire Patrick Drahi.
"The downgrade to Caa2 reflects our expectation that the company's operating performance and credit metrics will be weaker than we initially expected, with leverage increasing towards 7.4 times in 2024," said Ernesto Bisagno, a Moody's Vice President and lead analyst for Altice France Holding.
Earlier this month, French shipping tycoon Rodolphe Saade agreed to buy France's leading rolling news channel BFM TV off Patrick Drahi's debt-laden Altice group.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, editing by Tassilo Hummel)
