Matterhorn, operating under the Salt brand, is the third- largest Swiss telecoms operator which is held via French businessman Xavier Niel’s NJJ vehicle. It has expanded from a purely mobile services to converged offering, encompassing broadband fiber and TV market (Salt Home). Its business expansion occurs on the back of the fiber agreement with Swisscom. which should help expand its current footprint from 1.7mn households to 2.5–3mn by 2025.
Matterhorn has consistently reported sound operating results and deleveraging progress, which support an improving credit outlook. Given the positive background, the market expects a credit rating upgrade from Moody’s. S&P’s recently upgraded the latter by a one-notch to BB-.
The group has been proactive in tackling upcoming maturities with the recent issue of a CHF 100mn 2028 bond to address its upcoming EUR 250mn September 2024 bond maturity. That leaves around EUR 150mn to be refinanced. We expect a new bond issue, likely in Swiss Francs to benefit from favorable FX rates. Given the favorable developments, the company should expect an oversubscription.