DENIS O’BRIEN’S mobile phone group Digicel has been upgraded by ratings agency Fitch.

Various categories of the Digicel’s group senior debt have been upgraded to “B” by the ratings agency. The rating outlook is stable.

In a statement Fitch said that the actions reflected the company’s “continued strong operating performance, increasingly diversified revenue and cash flow generation, improved free cash flow generation and expectation of stable credit metrics”.

The most recent results for Digicel, which has operations in 30 markets across the Caribbean and Pacific areas, show that revenues rose 32 per cent rise in the quarter ended December 31st, 2010, to $580 million (€400 million) in the third quarter of its financial year.

Highlighting the company’s “strong brand recognition”, Fitch said that it expected Digicel to strengthen its competitive position in Jamaica.

It also viewed the overall long-term effect of the recent transaction with America Movil – in which Digicel sold its Honduras and El Salvador business to Carlos Slim’s America Mobil, while taking over American Mobil’s Jamaican business – as “positive to credit quality”.

However, Fitch pointed out that Digicel’s ratings were tempered by continued high leverage and exposure to politically unstable countries and economies.

Jamaica remains the most important country in terms of Ebitda generation for the company, despite losing some cash flow diversification, according to the ratings agency, although Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Eastern Caribbean operations and Papa New Guinea are also important contributors.

Digicel and America Movil are the two leading mobile phone operators in the Latin American region.