Moody's just smacked Liquid Intelligent Technologies with another credit downgrade to Caa2, which basically means the ratings agency thinks this massive African telecom company might struggle to pay back $620 million coming due next year. The kicker is that their Zimbabwean operation appears to be the only thing keeping the whole group afloat financially, but Liquid refused to answer any real questions about their debt situation or future spending plans.
Staff cuts have already hit their Kenya branch, and senior executives have been bailing out while the parent company scrambles to refinance loans. Moody's straight up said that if you remove Zimbabwe's profits from the equation, the rest of the group can't even cover loan interest payments. The Zimbabwean unit keeps pulling solid numbers with low customer churn, but nobody knows if the wider financial mess will eventually force them to slash network upgrade spending locally.
Staff cuts have already hit their Kenya branch, and senior executives have been bailing out while the parent company scrambles to refinance loans. Moody's straight up said that if you remove Zimbabwe's profits from the equation, the rest of the group can't even cover loan interest payments. The Zimbabwean unit keeps pulling solid numbers with low customer churn, but nobody knows if the wider financial mess will eventually force them to slash network upgrade spending locally.
