Fitch affirms Grupo Mexico

Fitch Ratings said it affirmed the B- local and foreign currency ratings assigned to Grupo Mexico SA and removed the ratings from Rating Watch negative.

The outlook is now stable.

In addition, Fitch said it affirmed the ratings for Grupo Mexico's subsidiaries. Ratings affirmed include Minera Mexico SA's senior secured local currency at B and senior secured foreign currency at B; Southern Peru Copper Corp.'s senior unsecured foreign currency at BB-; Asarco Inc.'s senior unsecured rating at CCC; Grupo Ferroviario Mexicano SA's senior unsecured local currency rating at BBB- and senior unsecured foreign currency rating at BBB-.

In conjunction with these rating actions, Fitch said it assigned a B senior unsecured rating to Americas Mining Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Grupo Mexico that is the direct parent company of Minera Mexico, Asarco, and Southern Peru Copper Corp.

Fitch said Grupo Mexico's B- rating reflects the company's high leverage. As of Dec. 31, Grupo Mexico's consolidated debt totaled about $3.1 billion while total EBITDA was $690 million. In 2003, the company's ratio of total debt-to-EBITDA was 3.5 times while interest coverage, as measured by EBITDA/interest expense, was 4.4x.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.