Fitch affirms Masisa

Fitch Ratings said it affirmed the BBB- foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings of Masisa SA and its A(chl) national scale ratings.

The outlook remains negative. The agency said this is due to the company's high total debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 3.7 times. During 2007 and the first quarter of 2008, Masisa initiated a number of transactions designed to lower leverage, but none of these transactions have closed.

Masisa generated $176 million of EBITDA and $157 million of funds from operations during 2007, compared with $154 million of EBITDA and $108 million of funds from operations during 2006. Fitch said the increase was due to better prices for medium-density fiberboard and particleboard throughout the region and, to a lesser extent, the start-up of commercial production of medium-density fiberboard at the company's new mill in Cabrero, Chile.

Partially offsetting the strength in prices for boards plus the additional supply of medium-density fiberboard was weakness in the U.S. housing market, the agency said.

© 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.