(The following statement was released by the ratings agency)
LONDON, March 26 - Moody's assigned a first time issuer rating of Baa3 to Athlon Groep N.V ., the Dutch car fleet leasing and car body repair company.
Moody's said that the rating reflected the company's consistent underlying profitability, its strong asset quality record and the generally low risk nature of the car fleet leasing business, and its solid capitalisation. Athlon has a solid position as the third largest car fleet lessor in its home market, where it conducts about half of its business, the rating agency noted. The company also benefits from operations in Belgium/Luxembourg, France and Germany. Over the last two years the company has disposed of its car dealerships and sold most of its car rental operations, neither of which were expected to meet revenue expectations over the medium term. Moody's noted that the rating is constrained by the company's relatively high dependence on short-term market funds, although this dependence is expected to be reduced by a planned securitisation.
It is also somewhat mitigated by the fact that four leading banks, all of which have had a long-term relationship with Athlon, account for a significant proportion of market funding. Moody's also noted that while Athlon is not regulated, its financial policies are effectively constrained by covenants attached to syndicated financing. Athlon Groep is based in Hoofddorp in the Netherlands and had total assets of 1,389mn at the end of December 2002.