Investment Rating and Investment Confidence of Batelco Group

Shaikh Mohamed bin Isa Al-Khalifa, CEO of Batelco Group summarizes the perceived investors confidence on the bond issue.  

Commenting on the strong investor’s confidence, Al-Khalifa says: “So far the reading is that the investors are very much interested in looking at our bond issuance. The company, as I have said, is a company with a long history and track record of paying out dividends, with strong cash-flows, and that’s really what the bond community is looking for.”

Furthermore, Al-Khalifa, with a strong background in the financial management, makes a compelling case for the bond issue and why is it important to have debt on the balance sheet.

“When we look at our balance sheet, the company has been well capitalized for a number of years and for us to efficiently use our balance sheet, we need to add leverage in order not to overburden the balance sheet with excess capital. So we are not at a stage where we need to raise capital in order to increase the equity of the company. That’s why we tap into the bond market,” he adds.  

“It will give us financing which will be paid back over a number of years and then give us further reputation within the financial markets that we can tap into that financial market whenever we need to raise further funds before going back to the shareholders in order to increase capital and equity of the company,” continues Al-Khalifa.