Moody's revised its outlook on Cequel Communications Holdings I LLC d/b/a Suddenlink Communications to positive from stable.
In addition to affirming the company's B3 corporate family rating, Moody's affirmed Cequel's B3-PD probability of default rating, Ba3 senior secured rating, and Caa1 unsecured rating.
The outlook change reflects the progress the company has made reducing costs over the last nine months following the change in ownership and management.
Affiliates of Altice NV bought a 70% equity stake in Cequel in late 2015 and implemented aggressive cost reductions that resulted in a decline in leverage to 6.7x for the last 12 months ended Sept. 30 from 8.0x at the time of the acquisition.
The rating agency could upgrade Cequel to B2 if the company manages to maintain its strong performance and its full-year audited financials remain consistent with the year-to-date trends.