Moody's Investors Service has affirmed the Ba1 corporate family rating of Steinhoff International Holdings (SHF)‚ following the conclusion of the company’s business realignment‚ which reflected its deleveraging trajectory.
“Today's announcement reflects our current view of Steinhoff's revised organisational structure‚ as well as Moody's expectation that the group's debt/EBITDA ratio will improve towards 3.5x following its completion of various corporate transactions‚” said Dion Bate‚ Moody's lead analyst for Steinhoff‚ on Tuesday.
Moody's also expects that assets transferred to JD Group (JDG) and KAP Intentional Holdings (KAP) will see greater synergies extracted than if they had remained in Steinhoff. Similarly‚ the acquisition of Conforama will enable Steinhoff to better meet customer demands in Europe‚ through its vertically integrated supply chain.
The ratings agency said the Ba1 rating and stable outlook takes into account Steinhoff's position in the mass discount market‚ which Moody's expects to be more resilient‚ and its exposure to better performing economies‚ both in the Europe and in other geographies. - I-Net Bridge