Fitch Rates Helios Towers’ Proposed USD Notes ‘BB-(EXP)’
Fitch Ratings has assigned Helios Towers Plc’s (HT) proposed senior unsecured notes an expected rating of ‘BB-(EXP)’ with a Recovery Rating of RR4, in line with its ‘BB-‘ Issuer Default Rating (IDR) and existing senior unsecured debt.
According to Fitch, the notes will be issued by HTA Group, Ltd and guaranteed on a senior basis by Helios Towers Plc and certain subsidiaries.
The company said proceeds will be used to prepay in full the pari passu term facilities totalling USD445 million, and to pay related transaction fees.
The final rating is contingent on the receipt of final documentation consistent with information already received, Fitch Ratings said.
Rating strengths include HT’s solid business profile as a leading independent tower operator with a leading position in seven of its nine markets, supported by long-term, contracted revenues and favourable structural demand drivers.
This is balanced by a weaker operating environment across several markets. The stable outlook underscores Fitch’s expectation of a prudent financial policy and capital allocation, supporting sustainable growth while preserving liquidity and rating headroom.
HT-defined net leverage declined to 3.4x at end-2025, from 4.3x at end-2024, as operating performance and cash generation improved. This corresponds to Fitch-calculated EBITDA net leverage of 3.7x.
HT targets net leverage of 2.5x-3.5x under its new five-year strategy, Impact 2030. Organic growth, strong EBITDA margins and a rational financial policy will support the deleveraging.
“We believe leverage at this level provides some headroom to absorb any FX fluctuation risk not mitigated by contract escalators. We expect the proposed notes to have a neutral effect on leverage”
Fitch said HT’s operating metrics show sustained tenancy growth and rising colocation intensity. As a result, the tenancy ratio improved to 2.17x at end-2025 from 1.91x at end-2023.
HT expects tenancies to grow by an average of 2,000-2,500 a year, leading to an increase in the tenancy ratio to 2.5x by 2030.
“We expect a large part of this growth to come from colocations and amendments, enabling an improvement in FCF margins and lower leverage, as new tenants generate higher-margin revenues with minimal incremental costs”.
Increased tenancy ratios and operational efficiencies will also drive EBITDA margins to 50% by 2027 from 46.6% in 2024. EBITDA growth, together with high co-location rates and contractual escalators, has supported positive pre-dividend free cash flow (FCF) generation, enhancing HT’s financial flexibility to execute its USD400 million shareholder return programme (targeted up to FY30) while maintaining leverage within targeted levels.
“ Our rating thresholds for HT are tighter than for peers in developed markets, as it mainly operates in more challenging operating environments linked to ‘B+’ and below sovereign ratings.
“Jurisdiction-level challenges such as fragile economic structures and uncertain regulation may negatively affect HT’s business profile”, Fitch said.
The weaker operating environment constrains the company’s Standalone Credit Profile (SCP), resulting in a one-notch negative adjustment.
Geographical diversification, manageable counterparty risk, hard-currency contracts and access to international markets soften HT’s risk compared with some peers.
HT’s cash flow is underpinned by long-term index-linked contracts with mobile network operators, a significant portion of which are local operating entities of investment-grade parents.
Helios had USD5.3 billion of revenues secured by contracts and an average remaining life on its contracts of 6.6 years at end-2025. This cash flow visibility underpins resilience through capex cycles and supports debt service capacity despite operating environment risks.
Ratings analysts estimate 52% of 2025 EBITDA was generated from dollarised countries or countries where the currency is euro or dollar pegged.
Another 19% is contractually linked to hard currencies. This substantially offsets the risk of adverse FX movements. HT remains exposed to the risk of de-dollarising or de-pegging of the local currencies.
Exposure to multiple local currencies, the strategy of keeping excess cash in US dollars and using substitutes to dollars such as rand or euros helps minimise FX risk.
The company has incorporated power escalators into almost all its customer contracts, with about half having quarterly and half having annual power escalators based on local fuel and electricity pricing.
HT applies annual CPI escalators, although it absorbs the impact of FX increases on contracts not denominated in or linked to hard currencies until these escalators are activated.
This contract structure helps limit the impact of economic fluctuations on EBITDA. Failure to renew contracts at similar terms and pricing pressures at renewals could pressure the rating.
Fitch uses its Corporate Rating Criteria and guidance on exceeding the Country Ceiling to assess risk from currency mismatches between cash flows and debt (primarily in US dollars) and transfer and convertibility risks.
Ratings analysts determine HT’s effective Country Ceiling at ‘B+’. We estimate that the net cash flow (EBITDA used as a proxy) generated by HT in countries with a higher Country Ceiling than Tanzania’s ‘B+’ is insufficient to cover gross hard-currency interest expense.
A positive change in this country mix could lead Fitch to apply a higher applicable Country Ceiling. Fitch analysts assess HT’s Foreign-Currency IDR at one notch above the ‘B+’ Country Ceiling.
Fitch believes HT has structural enhancements allowing for at least a one-notch IDR uplift.
This is based on our expectation that any balance-of-payments crisis would be fairly short, and that during it, hard-currency-denominated debt could be serviced with available and generated offshore liquidity.
Fitch expects cash flow generation, offshore readily available cash, and committed credit facilities to cover at least 12 months of hard-currency debt service by over 1.5x. Moniepoint Acquires Orda to Boost Africa’s Food Service Economy
