Fitch rates CCM note BBB-

Fitch Ratings said it assigned a BBB- rating to Controladora Comercial Mexicana, SAB de CV's (CCM) proposed $250 million senior unsecured notes due 2027, which will be issued in pesos and paid in dollars. CCM's other ratings include BBB- foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings and AA(mex) long- and F1+(mex) short-term national scale ratings.

The outlook is stable.

Proceeds from the notes will be used to refinance short-term debt and for capital expenditures.

The agency said CCM's ratings are based on the company's competitive position in the Mexican food retail market, multiple-format strategy, ownership of the majority of its selling space and solid financial profile.

The company has faced increased competition from Wal-Mart de Mexico in recent years. CCM has implemented several strategic initiatives to improve its long-term competitive position in the evolving Mexican retail industry and continues to maintain tight expense controls and high operating efficiencies under several initiatives, which Fitch said have allowed the company to improve its profit margins in a highly competitive industry.

At Dec. 31, the total debt-to-EBITDA ratio was 0.9x. On a pro forma basis, including the new notes and the refinancing, the ratio is 1.4x.

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