Moody's assigns first-time Ba1 rating to Arabian Centres

Moody's Investors Service has assigned a Ba1 corporate family rating to Saudi Arabia’s Arabian Centres Company, the ratings agency said in a statement on Friday.

Moody's also assigned a Ba2 instrument rating to the benchmark sized unsecured trust certificates to be issued by Arabian Centres Sukuk Limited, the statement added.

This is the first time Moody's has assigned ratings to Arabian Centres Company.

"Arabian Centres Ba1 rating reflects the company's leading market position and high quality portfolio of shopping centres across Saudi Arabia that will benefit from the retail shift to shopping malls," Dion Bate, VP Senior Analyst and local market analyst at Moody's said.