S&P: LBI Media outlook stable

Standard & Poor's said it revised the outlook on LBI Media Inc. to stable from negative and affirmed its B- corporate credit rating.

"The B- rating reflects our expectation that LBI will have adequate liquidity over the next 12-18 months, but incorporates refinancing risk surrounding March 2012 maturities," S&P analyst Michael Altberg said in a statement.

Other risks include the company's highly leveraged capital structure, negative discretionary cash flow, cash flow concentration in a small number of large U.S. Hispanic markets, intense competition for audiences and advertisers from much larger rivals, and financial risk associated with debt-financed acquisitions, the agency said.

The company's position as a niche operator of Spanish-language radio and TV stations, healthy EBITDA margin relative to peers, upside potential from Estrella TV and broadly favorable Spanish-language advertising trends are modest positive factors that do not offset these risks, according to the agency.

Lease-adjusted debt to EBITDA, including the company's 11% senior holding company discount notes, was extremely high at 12.6x as of March 31, compared with 9.6x at year-end 2008.

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