Sime Darby outlook revised

PETALING JAYA: Fitch Ratings has revised its outlook on Sime Darby Bhd’s long-term foreign and local currency issuer default ratings (IDR) to “negative” from “stable,” following the steep increase in the company’s funds from operations (FFO) adjusted net leverage.

According to the rating agency, Sime Darby’s FFO-adjusted net leverage rose 2.5 times in the first half of the financial year ended June 30, 2015 (FY15), which was well above the 1.75 times that Fitch considered “negative rating action.”