New York, November 16, 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service, ("Moody's") today
affirmed Floor and Decor Outlets of America, Inc.'s ("Floor
& Decor") Ba3 Corporate Family Rating (CFR), Ba3-PD Probability
of Default Rating (PDR), and Ba2 senior secured bank facility rating.
In addition, the Speculative Grade Liquidity rating was upgraded
to SGL-2 from SGL-3. The outlook was changed to stable
from negative.
"The change in outlook to stable from negative reflects Floor & Decor's
solid execution coupled with the outsized demand for hard surface flooring
as home remodeling trends have had significant tailwinds from a shift
in consumer spending in response to the coronavirus pandemic",
said Senior Vice President Christina Boni. "The company's
liquidity profile has also improved through its accelerated sales and
earnings growth while at the same time capital spending for new store
builds has reduced in the face of the pandemic", Boni added.
Upgrades:
..Issuer: Floor and Decor Outlets of America,
Inc.
.... Speculative Grade Liquidity Rating,
Upgraded to SGL-2 from SGL-3
Affirmations:
..Issuer: Floor and Decor Outlets of America,
Inc.
.... Corporate Family Rating, Affirmed
Ba3
.... Probability of Default Rating,
Affirmed Ba3-PD
....Senior Secured Bank Credit Facility,
Affirmed Ba2 (LGD3)
Outlook Actions:
..Issuer: Floor and Decor Outlets of America,
Inc.
....Outlook, Changed To Stable From
Negative
RATINGS RATIONALE
The coronavirus outbreak, the government measures put in place to
contain it, and the weak global economic outlook continue to disrupt
economies and credit markets across sectors and regions. Our analysis
has considered the effect on the performance of Floor & Decor from
the dramatic shift in consumer spending away from travel and leisure towards
the home as well as the current weak US economic activity and a gradual
recovery for the coming months. Although an economic recovery is
underway, it is tenuous and its continuation will be closely tied
to containment of the virus. As a result, the degree of uncertainty
around our forecasts is unusually high. We regard the coronavirus
outbreak as a social risk under our ESG framework, given the substantial
implications for public health and safety.
Floor & Decor's Ba3 corporate family rating reflects its solid
market position in the fragmented hard surface flooring and accessories
segment which services both do-it-yourself (DIY) and professional
(Pro) customers. The company's direct sourcing model,
extensive product offering and everyday low price value positioning have
supported its consistent growth historically. Floor & Decor
weathered the temporary closure of its stores to meet the challenges of
the pandemic in the spring of 2020, as its relied on curbside pickup
and online sales. The company has experienced outsized growth as
stores reopened and tailwinds from an increased focus on home maintenance
and remodeling as well as low interest rates and a healthy housing market.
Floor & Decor's financial strategy is balanced with moderate
levels of funded debt and no current dividend or share repurchase program.
The company remains focused on store growth of approximately 20%
per year, which was slowed in 2020 to approximately 11% as
a result of the pandemic. Floor & Decor also benefits from
good liquidity as the company has $271 million of cash, relative
to $219 million of funded debt at September 24, 2020.
Nonetheless, Floor & Decor's rating is constrained by
its modest scale, aggressive growth strategy, limited geographic
diversity and cyclical nature of home remodeling.
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS
Factors that could result in an upgrade include the continued success
of profitably growing its store base, a meaningful increase in Floor
& Decor's scale and geographic diversification while maintaining positive
operating trends. Quantitatively, ratings could be upgraded
if debt to EBITDA remained around 3.0 times and EBIT to interest
coverage was above 4.0 times on a sustained basis. An upgrade
would also require good liquidity as well as a balanced and clearly articulated
financial strategy.
Ratings could be downgraded if new stores did not achieve targeted returns
or its operating performance came under sustained pressure. Ratings
could also be downgraded if financial strategy were to become more aggressive
resulting in debt to EBITDA sustained above 4.0 times or EBIT to
interest below 3.0 times. Ratings could also be downgraded
if liquidity were to deteriorate.
Floor & Decor is a leading retailer of hard surface flooring in the
United States with 128 stores and LTM revenues as of September 24,
2020 of approximately $2.2 billion.
The principal methodology used in these ratings was Retail Industry published
in May 2018 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1120379.
Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of this methodology.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For further specification of Moody's key rating assumptions and
sensitivity analysis, see the sections Methodology Assumptions and
Sensitivity to Assumptions in the disclosure form. Moody's
Rating Symbols and Definitions can be found at: https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_79004.
For ratings issued on a program, series, category/class of
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same series, category/class of debt, security or pursuant
to a program for which the ratings are derived exclusively from existing
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issued on a support provider, this announcement provides certain
regulatory disclosures in relation to the credit rating action on the
support provider and in relation to each particular credit rating action
for securities that derive their credit ratings from the support provider's
credit rating. For provisional ratings, this announcement
provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the provisional
rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive rating that may
be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt, in each
case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed prior
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affected the rating. For further information please see the ratings
tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com.
For any affected securities or rated entities receiving direct credit
support from the primary entity(ies) of this credit rating action,
and whose ratings may change as a result of this credit rating action,
the associated regulatory disclosures will be those of the guarantor entity.
Exceptions to this approach exist for the following disclosures,
if applicable to jurisdiction: Ancillary Services, Disclosure
to rated entity, Disclosure from rated entity.
The ratings have been disclosed to the rated entity or its designated
agent(s) and issued with no amendment resulting from that disclosure.
These ratings are solicited. Please refer to Moody's Policy
for Designating and Assigning Unsolicited Credit Ratings available on
its website www.moodys.com.
Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit
rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating
review.
Moody's general principles for assessing environmental, social
and governance (ESG) risks in our credit analysis can be found at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1133569.
At least one ESG consideration was material to the credit rating action(s)
announced and described above.
The Global Scale Credit Rating on this Credit Rating Announcement was
issued by one of Moody's affiliates outside the EU and is endorsed
by Moody's Deutschland GmbH, An der Welle 5, Frankfurt
am Main 60322, Germany, in accordance with Art.4 paragraph
3 of the Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 on Credit Rating Agencies.
Further information on the EU endorsement status and on the Moody's
office that issued the credit rating is available on www.moodys.com.
Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to
the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has issued
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Please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.
Christina Boni
Senior Vice President
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653
Margaret Taylor
Associate Managing Director
Corporate Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653