Mitchell Etess, chief executive officer of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, took issue Wednesday with a leading credit rating agency’s critique of the authority’s financial position.

Fitch Ratings, in a news release, reported that both the authority, which operates Mohegan Sun in Uncasville and other casinos, and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, which owns and operates Foxwoods Resort Casino, may have to restructure debt for the second time in little more than two years.

“Their original restructurings did not cut enough debt and a recovery in casino operations never materialized,” the agency said. “In the event both tribes default, we expect MTGA’s recoveries to be materially better.”

Etess questioned Fitch’s analysis of MTGA.

“Our financial position seems to be totally misinterpreted by many people in the financial community,” he said. “Between the end of our relinquishment agreement and the Cowlitz project progressing, we feel very good about where we are, as do many people who analyze us.”

He said MTGA has not met with Fitch analysts and that some analysts tend to lump Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods together.

“We don’t understand why some people in the financial community can’t differentiate between the properties,” Etess said. “It’s only seven miles (between Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods) but it’s a world of difference.”

On the same day Fitch’s statement came out, MTGA’s chief financial officer, Mario Kontomerkos, addressed a financial conference in Florida. In his presentation, posted on the authority’s website, he noted that MTGA is focused on “deleveraging.” According to the presentation, at the end of 2014, MTGA’s total leverage — the ratio of its debt to earnings — was at its lowest point since March 2008.

In touting MTGA’s financial health, authority executives point to the end last month of the so-called relinquishment payments the authority had long made to Trading Cove Associates, the Mohegan Tribe’s original casino partners. The authority’s partnership with the Cowlitz, a Washington state tribe seeking to develop a casino project, also has moved forward in recent months.

Fitch noted that the Mashantuckets have defaulted on the terms of their 2013 restructuring. Earlier this month, Moody’s Investors Service, another credit-rating agency, downgraded the tribe’s debt.

Connecticut’s casinos face the prospect of competition from Massachusetts casinos authorized in Springfield and Boston. The impact is expected to be greater on Foxwoods than Mohegan Sun, Fitch noted.

“MTGA is better positioned to weather the current headwinds with lower leverage and having refinanced some of its debt in 2013, reducing its interest expense by an estimated $16 million,” the agency said.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com

Twitter: @bjhallenbeck