Manutencoop Bonds Drop to Record as Client Cancels Contracts

By Luca Casiraghi and Katie Linsell

February 23, 2016

(Bloomberg) -- Manutencoop Facility Management SpA’s bonds fell to records after the Italian cleaning company told noteholders it may lose a contract with Telecom Italia SpA.

The company’s 345 million euros ($379 million) of bonds due August 2020 dropped more than six cents on the euro to 53.3 cents, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The notes are down from about 81 cents at the start of the year.

Telecom Italia has the right to cancel a cleaning and facility management services contract because of the indictment of Manutencoop’s chief executive officer, the Bologna-based company told bondholders on Monday. State-run Consip SpA also said this month it may cancel a school-cleaning contract and exclude Manutencoop from some future tenders after the Italian Competition Authority said it will fine Manutencoop 48.5 million euros for flouting competition rules when it bid for the work.

“The negative surprises keep coming with this company,” said Felix Fischer, a credit analyst at independent research provider Lucror Analytics in Singapore. “The loss of this individual contract should be manageable, but it’s another blow.”

Manutencoop’s CEO Claudio Levorato was indicted in Brindisi, Italy in September, according to Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

Officials at Manutencoop and Telecom Italia couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on the contract cancellation.

Investors are concerned that the company’s contracts with other clients may have similar termination clauses, according to Fischer and Arndt Muthreich, a credit analyst at Stifel Nicolaus in London.

Telecom Italia’s contract generates about 25 million euros a year in revenue and employs more than 450 employees, Manutencoop told bondholders. It accounts for about 2.6 percent of its income, according to Muthreich’s estimates.

Moody’s Investors Service cut the company’s credit rating this month to B3, six levels below investment grade.