Moody’s downgrades Italcementi
Moody’s Investor Services has downgraded Italcementi’s (and subsidiary Ciments Francais) rating from from Baa3 to Ba1. The outlook is negative.
Simultaneously Moody’s downgraded the senior unsecured ratings of Italcementi
Finance and Ciments Français to Ba1.
“This decision follows similar actions adopted by the rating agency for almost all the major companies of the cement sector. It was largely signaled by Moody’s and discounted by investors in our Group’s outstanding bonds - underlines Giovanni Maggiora, CFO of Italcementi – “It reflects the uncertainty facing some of our markets while acknowledging the strong actions undertaken operationally and financially to maintain the usual solid financial profile on the Group in this industry downturn.
“The downgrade will cause a 1.25% coupon step-up on our 2020 bond but no other material outstanding debt will be affected, with a direct impact on our 2012 accounts of approximately EUR7m on a pre-tax basis. Our funding strategy will adapt to the new environment but will remain unchanged in its long
term approach to capital and banking markets. In a difficult credit market environment, the strategic liquidity reserves that we built in favourable market conditions in 2010 are sufficient to meet three years of debt maturities and give us the ability to flexibly implement our next moves.”
Published under Cement News
