S&P lifts At Home loan to B

S&P said it assigned a B corporate credit rating to At Home Group Inc.

The outlook is stable.

The agency also said it raised the existing corporate credit rating on subsidiary, At Home Holding III Inc. to B from B- and subsequently withdrew the rating, given that the company on a consolidated basis at At Home Group.

S&P said it raised the rating on the $300 million first-lien term loan to B from B-.

The recovery rating remains at 3, indicating 50% to 70% expected default recovery.

S&P said it does not rate the company's revolver and second-lien term loan.

The upgrades reflect an expectation for stronger EBITDA margins and profitability as At Home continues to pursue its large-format, high SKU-count store base expansion focusing on maintaining its warehouse-like low service business model in the coming year, the agency said.

S&P said the increased marketing efforts, successful rebranding of the store base and focus on annually refreshed, mostly private label merchandise at low prices have been successful with its customers.

The agency also said it believes At Home has been taking market share from larger peers such as Pier 1 Imports, smaller format stores and independent and discount retailers.

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