CITYCON OYJ Investor News 9 June 2023 at 16:30 hrs
HELSINKI, June 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Citycon has terminated its credit rating agreement with the rating agency Moody's Investors Service and asked Moody's to withdraw their rating. Citycon provided termination notice for Moody's ratings services on 5 June 2023. Any ratings going forward by Moody's will be on an unsolicited basis.
"The termination is a consequence of Moody's current rating methodology, which does not recognise the characteristics of Citycon's tenant mix and business model of creating and operating necessity-based retail hubs in top Nordic locations. The tenant mix of Citycon's assets, comprising municipal and grocery anchor tenants with indexation linked leases sets us apart from our peer group and has already demonstrated its strength and resilience in a variety of market conditions."
"In the last 18 months, we have sold EUR 266 million of assets, including EUR 120 million in December which is part of our planned EUR 500 million asset sale target."
"Additionally, during the spring, we refinanced our credit facility and bought back EUR 138 million of our near-term debt, in addition to EUR 192 million of debt we have repurchased since last year. When combined with the increase in asset fair values in Q1, our liquidity has strengthened and the company is in a far better financial position than a year ago," says F. Scott Ball, the Chief Executive Officer of Citycon.
The credit rating of Citycon continues to be assessed by Standard & Poor's, which in April affirmed Citycon's investment grade credit rating (BBB-/stable outlook) highlighting Citycon's strong operating performance and stable credit metrics.
For further information, please contact:
Sakari Järvelä
Vice President, Corporate Finance and Investor Relations
Tel. +358 50 387 8180
sakari.jarvela@citycon.com
Citycon is a leading owner, manager and developer of mixed-use real estate featuring modern, necessity-based retail with residential, office and municipal service spaces that enhance the communities in which they operate. Citycon is committed to sustainable property management in the Nordic region with assets that total approximately EUR 4.2 billion. Our centres are located in urban hubs in the heart of vibrant communities with direct connections to public transport and anchored by grocery, healthcare and other services that cater to the everyday needs of customers.
Citycon has investment-grade credit rating from Standard & Poor's (BBB-). Citycon's shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd.
www.citycon.com
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