Belgacom, the Belgian telecoms company, may see its credit ratings fall as a result of transferring its pension fund to the state in the run up to an IPO.

Standard & Poor's, the ratings agency, on Tuesday placed Belgacom's AA long-term and A-1 short-term credit ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications. Leandro de Torres Zabala, an analyst at S&P, said: "As a result of the forthcoming IPO and pension fund transfer, Belgacom will leverage its balance sheet to levels beyond previous expectations."