Fitch Assigns 'BB' to Fibria Notes
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CHICAGO--(Business Wire)-- Fitch Ratings has assigned a 'BB' rating to the proposed 2020 notes to be issued by Fibria Overseas Finance Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Fibria Celulose S.A. Proceeds from these unsecured guaranteed notes, which are expected to total more than USD500 million, will be used to repay existing debt. Fibria's Issuer Default Rating (IDR) and debt ratings are as follows: --Local currency IDR 'BB'; --Foreign currency IDR 'BB'; --National scale rating 'A+ (bra)'. The Rating Outlook for Fibria is Stable. These ratings reflect the excellent business position of Fibria, the favorable dynamics for bleached eucalyptus kraft market pulp (BEKP), the company's ownership of more than 1.0 million hectares of land in Brazil and the strong financial position of its shareholders. They also take into consideration the volatility of the pulp market and the company's high leverage. Excellent Business Profile; Sustainable Competitive Advantage: Fibria is the world's leading producer of market pulp with 5.4 million tons of BEKP capacity, nearly double the size of the second largest producer in the industry. The company has a global market share of approximately 11% within market pulp, and 32% within the fastest growth segment of the market, BEKP. Fibria owns approximately 1.0 million hectares of land in Brazil, upon which it developed nearly 600,000 hectares of eucalyptus plantations. The nearly ideal conditions for growing trees in Brazil make these plantations extremely efficient by global standards and give the company a sustainable advantage in terms of cost of fiber, and transportation costs between forest and mills. The company augments its advantage in fiber cost with large, modern pulp mills. As a result of its efficient mills and low cost pulp wood, Fibria is one of the lowest cost producers of pulp in the world. The company uses its size and cost position to remain a price leader within the industry. Fibria's position is viewed to be sustainable through the medium to long term due to large investments in forestry during the past five years by its predecessor companies, VCP and Aracruz. These investments are likely to result in the construction of more than 5 million tons of addition pulp capacity by Fibria during the next 10 to 15 years. Short-Term Debt High But Manageable: Fibria had BRL3.9 billion of cash and marketable securities and BRL 14.7 billion of debt as of Dec. 31, 2009. Although short-term debt was relatively high at year-end at BRL3.9 billion, liquidity is manageable. Seller financing, due to three members of Aracruz's former shareholder group (Arapar, Sao Teofilo and Arainvest), accounted for BRL 2.4 billion of short-term debt. Fibria repaid more than BRL1.0 billion of this financing during January. During March 2010, the company entered a USD535 million export prepayment agreement in order to extend the average life of the company's maturity schedule. Proceeds were used to repay two export facilities. The company's dollar-denominated debt as of Dec. 31, 2009 was primarily comprised of an USD1 billion bond due 2019, USD511 million of secured debt related to derivative losses and USD2.1 billion of export prepayment debt that matures between 2010 and 2018. Fibria's Brazilian real-denominated debt consists mainly of BRL3.7 billion of seller financing due during 2010 and 2011 and BRL1.8 billion of debt with Brazil's development bank, BNDES. The BNDES debt is secured with liens on property, plant and equipment. Fibria intends to use the proceeds from the 2020 notes to repay the derivative debt, thereby eliminating the restrictive covenants and liens attached to that debt. Should market conditions suddenly worsen, Fitch believes that Fibria could extend its payment schedule with the families associated with Arapar, Sao Teofilo and Arainvest if needed. It is also likely that BNDESPar, a subsidiary of Brazil's development bank BNDES, would provide additional equity support for Fibria if needed. BNDESPar (33.6% as of Dec. 31, 2009) controls Fibria along with Votorantim Industrial S.A. (29.3%) through a shareholders agreement. Leverage Expected to Decline in 2010: During 2009, Fibria generated BRL 1.5 billion of EBITDA, as calculated by Fitch, and BRL 1.1 billion of funds from operations (FFO). These figures are low for the company's capacity and reflect extremely low pulp prices during the first half of the year. They resulted in Fibria having a net debt to EBITDA ratio of 7.3 times (x) and an FFO adjusted leverage ratio of 7.7x. Pulp prices have moved sharply upward during 2010 due to strong demand from China and a recovery of demand in Europe, low inventory levels, and disruptions caused by the earthquake in Chile and the port strike in Finland. Fibria will also benefit from synergies obtained from the merger of Aracruz and VCP, as well as a full years output from the Tres Lagoas pulp mill. As a result of the aforementioned factors, Fibria's EBITDA is expected to nearly double. The company has announced BRL 1.2 billion of capital expenditures, as it continues to invest in forests with a goal of building a new pulp mill in the near future. Consequently, net debt will likely not decline by more than BRL1.0 billion during 2010. This would lead to a net debt/EBITDA ratio for 2010 of about 3.3x. Potential Rating or Outlook Drivers: Any factor that leads to a material reduction of debt could lead to a positive rating action. Potential sources of lower debt include stronger than anticipated pulp prices or the sale of the company's paper assets. A negative rating action is unlikely during 2010. A class action lawsuit has been filed against the company and some of its current and former directors and officers. A material ruling against Fibria could lead to negative rating actions during 2010. Applicable criteria available on Fitch's website at www.fitchratings.com: --'Corporate Rating Methodology' dated Nov. 24, 2009; --'National Ratings- Methodology Update' dated Dec. 18, 2006. Additional information is available at www.fitchratings.com. ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE. Fitch Ratings Joe Bormann CFA, +1-312-368-3349 (Chicago) Fernanda Rezende, +55-11-4504-2618 (Rio de Janeiro) Media Relations Brian Bertsch, +1-212-908-0549 (New York) brian.bertsch@fitchratings.com Copyright Business Wire 2010
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