Moody's rates Grupo M notes Ba3

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned Ba3 corporate family and global foreign-currency ratings to Grupo M Holding SA's proposed $150 million senior unsecured notes due 2017.

Moody's also rated the $150 million senior unsecured notes due 2017 at Ba3.

The outlook is stable.

Proceeds will be used to refinance existing bank debt.

"Grupo M's Ba3 corporate family rating is supported by the company's No. 1 market positions in its home market Costa Rica and in Nicaragua, geographic diversification, its clout with suppliers in the region and consolidated margins that are broadly in line with those of regional peers with similar integrated retail and consumer finance business models," Moody's analyst Sebastian Hofmeister said in a written statement.

"These credit positives are partly offset by the company's small absolute scale compared to rated retailers globally, B3 country risk exposure in its second largest market Nicaragua, an increasingly competitive retail and consumer finance environment in the region, and some execution risk related to aggressive growth targets and the conclusion of integration efforts at El Salvador's Almacenes Prado, which was acquired in late 2006," Hofmeister said.

© 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.