Tag: ratings

Rating Action: Moody’s changes outlook on Amer Sports’ B3 ratings to positiveGlobal Credit Research – 14 Jan 2022Madrid, January 14, 2022 — Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) has today changed to positive from stable the outlook on the ratings of Amer Sports Holding 1 Oy’s (Amer Sports), a global sporting goods company. Concurrently, Moody’s has affirmed the company’s B3 corporate family rating (CFR) and its B3-PD probability of default rating (PDR). Moody’s has also affirmed the B3 ratings on the E1,700 million guaranteed senior secured term loan B (TLB) due 2026 and the E315 million guaranteed senior secured revolving credit facility (RCF) due 2025, both borrowed by Amer Sports’ subsidiary, Amer Sports Holding Oy.”The outlook change to positive reflects Amer Sports’ sustained strong operating performance, which will lead to a faster deleveraging profile than previously anticipated, with Moody’s adjusted gross leverage ratio reducing to below 6.5x over the next 12-18 months,” says Pilar Anduiza, Moody’s lead analyst for Amer Sports.A full list of affected ratings can be found at the end of this press release.RATINGS RATIONALEAmer Sports’ operating performance in 2021 has exceeded Moody’s expectations at the beginning of the year. Consumer demand for sports apparel, footwear and individual ball sports equipment has proven to be stronger than expected across all segments, driving revenue growth of 29% YTD September 2021. The Chinese market, which is predominantly direct-to-consumer (D2C), continued to outperform other segments reaching an estimated E300 million in revenues in 2021, compared with E190 million in 2019.In 2021, the company voluntarily prepaid E100 million of its TLB and E162 million drawings under the RCF in 2021. As a result, Amer Sports’ financial leverage, measured as Moody’s adjusted gross debt to EBITDA, improved to around 7.2x in 2021 from 10x in 2020.Moody’s expects the company’s sales growth to continue to be