Fitch lifts American Axle

Fitch Ratings said it upgraded the issuer default ratings of American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (AXL) and its subsidiary American Axle & Manufacturing, Inc. (AAM) to BB from BB-.

The agency also affirmed the rating on AAM's secured revolving credit facility at BB+/RR1.

Fitch upgraded AAM's senior unsecured notes rating to BB/RR4 from BB-/RR4.

AAM's ratings apply to a $523.5 million secured revolving credit facility and $1.35 billion in senior unsecured notes.

The outlooks are stable.

Fitch said the upgrade of the issuer default ratings was driven by improvement in the company's credit metrics, consistently solid FCF generation and increased customer, product and geographical diversification.

Although the company remains heavily reliant on General Motors Co.’s (GM) full-size truck program, it continues to add new business with a variety of U.S., European and Asian auto manufacturers, and 60% of its new business backlog over the 2016 to 2018 timeframe is for customers other than GM, the agency added.

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