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LONDON (Alliance News) - Moody's Investors Service late Friday affirmed the Ba1 family rating of interdealer broker TP ICAP PLC, keeping a stable outlook.
Moody's say the affirmation reflects its expectations that TP ICAP's acquisition-related cost savings, and savings from cost improvement programmes, "should support improved levels of cash available to service the firm's debt".
Following the acquisition of the ICAP voice broking unit in 2016, TP ICAP is now the largest voice broker globally and, according to Moody's, this is a "positive for creditors as the combined business has a broader, more diverse revenue base".
Moody's does, however, expect TP ICAP to "continue to be challenged by cyclical and structural pressures that have negatively affected voice broking across the sector in recent years".
The rating could be upgraded, said Moody's, if "further potential for cost reductions be realized, leading to further improvements in the firm's debt service and coverage metrics". It expects TP ICAP's finances to improve as it continues to integrate IGBB.
The rating will be downgraded "if cost measures and synergies from the IGBB business fail to materialise".
Shares in TP ICAP were up 0.8% Monday morning at 430.60 pence each.
