Moody's upgrades Votorantim notes

Moody's Investors Service said it upgraded Votorantim SA's $750 million senior unsecured notes due 2021 to Ba1 from Ba2.

The rating on the $400 million senior unsecured notes due 2024 issued and guaranteed by Votorantim's wholly owned subsidiary, Companhia Brasileira de Alumínio, also was upgraded to Ba1 from Ba2.

The outlook is positive.

The agency said it upgraded the Votorantim's corporate family rating to Ba1 from Ba2 in the global scale and to Aaa.br from Aa2.br in the Brazilian national scale.

The ratings reflect improvements in the company's operating performance, credit metrics and capital structure, Moody's said.

The agency said its leverage declined to 2.6x in the end of 2018 – pro forma for the repayment of debt in the first quarter of 2019, from 4.3x in the end of 2017.

The ratings reflect the company's large size, status as one of the largest conglomerates in Brazil and its diversified business portfolio in cement, zinc and byproducts, Moody's said.

The ratings also benefit from different end-market dynamics and mitigates the effect of cyclicality in any particular industry, the agency said.

The ratings are constrained by the commodity nature of a substantial portion of Votorantim's business portfolio and the improving, Moody's said, but still challenging operating environment for the company's cement business in Brazil.

© 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.