Fitch upgrades Reliance's foreign-currency IDR to BBB/negative

Singapore, June 24 : Fitch Ratings has upgraded Reliance Industries Ltd's (RIL's) long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating to BBB from BBB-minus with a negative outlook.
At the same time, the agency has affirmed RIL's long-term local-currency issuer default rating at BBB-plus with a stable outlook.
The upgrade is driven by expectation that RIL's hard-currency external debt-service ratio will remain at above 1x over the next 12 months.
Fitch's non-financial corporates exceeding the country ceiling rating criteria states that a company with a ratio of above 1x over at least 12 months can be rated one-notch above the country ceiling. India's country ceiling is BBB-minus.
The negative uutlook reflects the outlook on India's sovereign rating, said Fitch. Should the sovereign issuer default ratings be downgraded, the country ceiling may be revised down in tandem.
This will constrain RIL's foreign-currency issuer default rating to one notch above the country ceiling.
RIL's local-currency issuer default rating reflects the company's strong business profile with market leading positions and diversified cash flow from a mix of oil to chemical (O2C) and consumer businesses as well as lower net leverage, said Fitch.
RIL has businesses across the energy, petrochemical, textile, retail and telecommunications sectors. It operates the largest single site and one of the most complex refineries at Jamnagar and has a vertically integrated portfolio across the petrochemical value chain.
RIL's subsidiaries have leading market positions in India's telecom and retail space.