Fitch ups Pernod Ricard, debt to BBB

Fitch Ratings said it upgraded Pernod Ricard SA's long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating and senior unsecured rating to BBB from BBB- and affirmed its short-term issuer default rating at F3.

The outlook is positive.

Fitch said the upgrade reflects Pernod's significant deleveraging over the last two years.

The scope for this to continue is reflected by the positive outlook.

“Although leverage metrics remained weak for the BBB rating category at year-end June 2017 (FYE17), this is more than offset by the company's strong business profile and its demonstrated ability to maintain a healthy operating performance despite a difficult background in certain markets,” Fitch said in a news release.

“Solid profitability and the sustainability of free cash-flow (FCF) generation at least around mid-single digits of sales add enough financial flexibility to Pernod's current rating.

“We expect headroom to continue to improve, and to be sufficient to absorb a potential acceleration in bolt-on M&A activity, which we assumed at up to €500 million annually in our projections.”

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