Fitch upgrades Masisa

Fitch Ratings said it upgraded to A(chl) from A-(chl) the national scale rating of Chile-based Masisa SA and Masisa's Chilean peso-denominated bonds. These ratings had been placed on Rating Watch positive on Oct. 6 after the company announced its intention to issue equity.

Fitch also assigned a preliminary rating of A (chl) to Masisa's proposed Unidad de Fomento 5.5 million bond issuance, the proceeds of which will be used to prepay existing debt.

The outlook is stable.

The upgrade follows the successful placement of $120 million of new equity in the market by Masisa during December and January, the company's consistent use of cash to fund most of its growth and an expectation that its net debt-to-EBITDA ratio will fall to less than 2.8x within the next 12 to 18 months, the agency said.

Fitch said the company's pro forma net debt to EBITDA ratio for the past 12 months ended September is about 3.2x

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