Moody's rates Westlake notes Ba2

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned a Ba2 rating to Westlake Chemical Corp.'s $250 million senior unsecured notes due 2016. Moody's also affirmed the company's Ba2 corporate family rating, Ba2 rating on its $247 million guaranteed senior unsecured notes due 2001 and Ba1 rating on its $120 million guaranteed senior secured term loan due 2010.

The outlook has been changed to positive, reflecting the company's strong financial profile and Moody's belief that the company's intermediate-term financial performance could support a higher rating.

These actions follow the company's announcement that it will refinance its outstanding debt.

Westlake's Ba2 rating reflects Moody's concerns about the company size, the lack of product diversity, the regional nature of its operations and its feedstock exposure.

The company is strongly placed in the rating category, however, due to its relatively conservative financial policies, strong financial metrics for a Ba2 company, management's willingness to retain an elevated cash balance throughout the cycle and its discipline in pursuing acquisitions and capital investments, the agency said.

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