Rating Action: Moody's revises Homex's rating outlook to negative from stable
Global Credit Research - 20 Mar 2013
New York, March 20, 2013 -- Moody's Investors Service affirmed Desarrolladora Homex, S.A.B. de C.V.'s ("Homex") global scale foreign currency senior unsecured debt rating at Ba3. Concurrently, Moody's revised the rating outlook to negative, from stable.
RATINGS RATIONALE
The outlook revision reflects that for most of 2012, and in particular the fourth quarter, was challenging for the sector as a whole. Homex's cash burn was very high due to fewer subsidies allocated than what was projected as well as a new federal government that took office which slowed down the operations of the main housing agencies. Homex's earnings and cash flow thus deteriorated which led to weaker credit metrics. As of 12/31/2012, Homex's debt to assets was 40%, while LTM Recurring EBITDA % of LTM Revenues was 18.2% vs. 21.2% at 12/31/2011 (all including the penitentiary business). As of 12/31/2012 debt to LTM EBITDA was 3.87x vs. 3.31x at 12/31/2011 (including the penitentiary business). Fixed charge coverage for the LTM was 2.83x at 12/31/2012 vs. 2.64x for the same period in 2011 (including the penitentiary business). The negative rating outlook reflects our expectation that Homex' sales and earnings will be challenged at least through the end of 2013, which implies that credit metrics at a minimum will be maintained at current levels. However, the most likely scenario is that credit metrics will weaken slightly with neutral to slightly negative free cash flow.
The government announced a new housing policy in February, which further expands on the sustainability initiatives that were put into place in 2011 and 2012. However, few details regarding the implementation of the new housing policy were provided, such as the potential need for increased investment to comply with the new standards. In addition, the classification of land reserves by the government could lead to discounted land sales in less favored regions and rising land prices in favored ones. In response to these changes Homex has announced guidance for 2013 which includes deleveraging and the generation of positive free cash flow through cost savings schemes and a refinancing of its prison business debt. In addition, the company's plan for 2013 includes no growth in its Mexican housing business and no additional investments in its Brazilian home building business until its collection and titling processes with Caixa is standardized. It expects to title approximately 360 homes from its two ongoing projects.
Moody's ratings continue to reflect Desarrolladora Homex's position as one of the largest homebuilders in Mexico in terms of housing units titled, as well as its geographic diversification with presence in most states, operational efficiencies through the use of aluminum moulds during construction and a solid liquidity profile. Challenges still include the high costs of land and infrastructure in Homex's markets, and some speculative homebuilding by Homex and its competitors. Moody's notes that although the penitentiary projects add diversity it is still a new business with inherent construction, financing and managing risks. Furthermore, the long-term viability of Homex's Brazilian homebuilding platform is as of yet unproven with few homes titled due to inherent administrative constraints in the collection process, although the demographics and financing availability are similar to those in Mexico.
A return to a stable outlook would imply an improvement in credit metrics (excluding the penitentiary business) such that Debt/EBITDA approaches 3.0x and fixed charge coverage increases closer to 2.7x. In addition, a return to stable would require Homex to generate neutral to positive free cash flow with no short-term debt refinancing issues. A downgrade will occur if by year-end 2013 Homex generates negative free cash flow in its housing business or encounters any issues refinancing its short-term debt maturities. Negative rating action would result if credit metrics materially deteriorate such that Debt/EBITDA increases to 3.5x or above and/or fixed charge coverage falls below 2.5x (excluding the penitentiary business). Finally, any difficulties in complying with bank covenants would result in a downgrade.
Moody's de Mexico affirmed Homex's national scale unsecured debt rating and issuer rating at A3.mx, and revised the rating outlook to negative, from stable.
The following ratings were affirmed with a negative outlook:
MOODY'S INVESTORS SERVICE
Desarrolladora Homex, S.A.B. de C.V. -- global scale foreign currency rating on senior notes issued in the USA at Ba3.
MOODY'S DE MEXICO
Desarrolladora Homex, S.A.B. de C.V. -- National scale issuer rating at A3.mx and global scale local currency issuer rating at Ba3.
Desarrolladora Homex, S.A.B. de C.V. -- National scale rating on senior unsecured debt program of up to $2 billion Mexican pesos at A3.mx, global scale local currency rating at (P)Ba3.
Desarrolladora Homex, S.A.B. de C.V. -- National scale rating on senior unsecured notes of $500 million Mexican pesos at A3.mx, global scale local currency rating at Ba3 and national scale rating on senior unsecured notes of $700 million Mexican pesos at A3.mx, global scale local currency rating at Ba3.
The last rating action with respect to Homex was on January 23, 2013, when Moody's de Mexico assigned a A3.mx national scale and Ba3 second proposed senior unsecured debt issuance of up to $700 million Mexican pesos. This will be the second issuance from the company's senior unsecured debt program of up to $2 billion Mexican pesos. The rating outlook was stable.
Desarrolladora Homex, S.A.B. de C.V. [NYSE: HXM; BMV: HOMEX] is based in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico. The firm reported assets of approximately $50,189 million Mexican Pesos and equity of approximately $14,792 million Mexican Pesos as of December 31, 2012. Homex is a homebuilder engaged in the development, construction, marketing and sale of mostly affordable housing in Mexico.
The principal methodology used in this rating was Global Homebuilding Industry Methodology published in March 2009. Please see the Credit Policy page on
Moody's - credit ratings, research, tools and analysis for the global capital markets for a copy of this methodology.
Moody's National Scale Ratings (NSRs) are intended as relative measures of creditworthiness among debt issues and issuers within a country, enabling market participants to better differentiate relative risks. NSRs differ from Moody's global scale ratings in that they are not globally comparable with the full universe of Moody's rated entities, but only with NSRs for other rated debt issues and issuers within the same country. NSRs are designated by a ".nn" country modifier signifying the relevant country, as in ".mx" for Mexico. For further information on Moody's approach to national scale ratings, please refer to Moody's Rating Methodology published in October 2012 entitled "Mapping Moody's National Scale Ratings to Global Scale Ratings".