Fitch Affirms AT&T Receivables Funding LLC
--September 2015 investment 'Asf'; Outlook Stable;
--December 2015 investment 'Asf'; Outlook Stable;
--March 2016 investment 'Asf'; Outlook Stable;
--June 2016 investment 'Asf'; Outlook Stable;
--September 2016 investment 'Asf'; Outlook Stable.
KEY RATING DRIVERS
Collateral Quality: The AT&T Receivables Funding, LLC trust pool consists of 100% device installment plan agreements that are originated and serviced by AT&T Mobility. The static pools are comprised of agreements with long tenured AT&T customers, and customer tenure is a strong indication of future performance. Fitch only gives credit to installment payments prior to the plans being eligible for upgrade, which, depending on the underlying contract, can be 50% to 80% of the installment payments.
Fitch assigned a base case default rate of between 3.1% and 3.3% for the pools and applied a stress multiple of 3.6x at the 'Asf' stress level, reflecting the limited program-specific data history and the view that customer payment behavior on the installment contracts could be negatively impacted by an AT&T insolvency.
Rating Cap of 'Asf': Fitch applied a rating cap of 'Asf' due to the limited historical performance data available for the underlying device installment agreements, especially for the longest term contracts, which comprise a majority of the pool. Fitch did receive performance data on the predecessor subsidy program, which served as proxy information, but this data was likewise limited in scope and did not encompass any period of economic stress.
AT&T Rating Dependency: While not directly linked, the rating of the investments face greater exposure than other consumer loan transactions to the credit profile and market position of AT&T (rated 'A-'/'F2'/Rating Watch Negative by Fitch), whose subsidiaries act as originators, servicer and network operator. In Fitch's view, customers may change their payment behavior in the event of an AT&T insolvency.
Servicing Capabilities: New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC D/B/A AT&T Mobility, as servicer of the pools, has an extensive history of servicing cell phone contracts. Due to this and AT&T's position as one of the largest wireless service providers in the United States, Fitch considers AT&T's servicing operations of cell phone contracts to be a strength compared to its peers.
RATING SENSITIVITIES
Unanticipated increases in the frequency of defaults or chargeoffs on customer accounts could produce loss levels higher than the base case and would likely result in declines of CE and remaining loss coverage levels available to the investments. Decreased CE may make certain ratings on the investments susceptible to potential negative rating actions, depending on the extent of the decline in coverage.
Fitch conducts sensitivity analysis by stressing a transaction's initial base case charge-off assumption by an additional 25% and additional 50%, and examining the rating implications. The increases of the base case chargeoffs are intended to provide an indication of the rating sensitivity of the notes to unexpected deterioration of a transaction's performance.
During the sensitivity analysis, Fitch examines the magnitude of the multiplier compression by projecting the expected cash flows and loss coverage levels over the life of investments under higher than the initial base case chargeoff assumptions. Fitch models cash flows with the revised chargeoff estimates while holding constant all other modelling assumptions.
For the September 2016 pool, a 25% charge-off stress would result in a one notch downgrade. Under the 50% stress, the notes would fall an additional two notches, while still remaining investment grade.
No other outstanding pools would be sensitive to either a 25% or 50% charge-off stress.
USE OF THIRD-PARTY DUE DILIGENCE PURSUANT TO SEC RULE 17G-10
Form ABS Due Diligence-15E was not provided to, or reviewed by, Fitch in relation to this rating action.
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