New York, October 08, 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service, ("Moody's") today changed the outlook
for Petco Animal Supplies, Inc.'s (Petco) to positive.
Moody's also affirmed the company's corporate family rating
and probability of default rating at Caa1 and Caa1-PD. Additionally,
Moody's affirmed the company's senior secured term loan at B3.
"Petco's operating performance has been above expectations in the
first half of 2020 despite the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic,
demonstrating the resilience of the pet products business," Moody's
Vice President Mickey Chadha stated. "The positive outlook reflects
that we expect momentum to continue over the next 12 months due to the
growth in pet ownership and Petco's increasing e-commerce
penetration coupled with the improving services business", Chadha
further stated.
Affirmations:
..Issuer: Petco Animal Supplies, Inc.
.... Corporate Family Rating, Affirmed
Caa1
.... Probability of Default Rating,
Affirmed Caa1-PD
....Senior Secured Bank Credit Facility,
Affirmed B3 (LGD3)
Outlook Actions:
..Issuer: Petco Animal Supplies, Inc.
....Outlook, Changed To Positive From
Negative
RATINGS RATIONALE
Petco's Caa1 corporate family rating reflects its high financial leverage
that stems from the acquisition of the company by the CVC Capital Partners
Advisory (U.S.) and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
in January 2016. Lease-adjusted debt/EBITDA remains high
at about 5.5 times for the twelve month period ended August 1,
2020, and interest coverage is modest with EBIT/interest at 1.0
times. On a funded debt to reported EBITDA basis leverage is higher
at about 7.0 times. Moody's expects credit metrics to improve
modestly in the next 12 months as same store sales continue to be positive
and margins improve due to the change in sales mix. Traffic will
continue to be pressured as consumers consolidate trips to the store however
transaction size will remain high and will offset the weak traffic trend.
As a result Moody's expects debt/EBITDA and EBIT/interest in the next
12 months to improve towards 5.0 times and over 1.0 times
respectively. The company is owned by a private equity sponsor,
which inherently has certain risks specifically as it relates to the high
likelihood of a shareholder friendly financial policy that can lead to
the maintenance of a highly leveraged capital structure. The rating
also acknowledges that while Petco's market presence is substantial,
the competitive landscape is getting tougher as consumers are increasingly
shopping online at company's like Chewy (owned by Petsmart) and Amazon
and the mass channel which includes supermarkets, Walmart,
and Target continues to price aggressively. These channels have
seen increased sales during the coronavirus related disruptions.
Petco's ratings are supported by its good liquidity, well-known
brand, broad national footprint. The pet products industry
also remains relatively recession-resilient, driven by factors
such as the replenishment nature of consumables and services and increased
pet ownership.
The positive outlook reflects Moody's expectation that Petco's same
store sales growth will continue, credit metrics will improve and
the company will continue to generate free cash flow in the next 12 months.
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS
Petco's ratings could be upgraded if the company's operating performance
continues to improve with same store sales and profitability growth being
sustained while maintaining good liquidity including refinancing debt
well in advance of its maturity and financial policies that are focused
on improving credit metrics. Specific metrics include maintaining
lease-adjusted debt/EBITDA below 6.0 times and maintaining
EBIT/interest expense over 1.25 times even after any refinancing
of its debt.
Petco's ratings could be downgraded if operating trends are reversed,
financial policies become more aggressive, or if liquidity erodes.
Specifically ratings can be lowered if operating margins or free cash
flow deteriorates or company does not refinance its debt well in advance
of maturities. Quantitatively, a downgrade could occur if
lease-adjusted debt/EBITDA is sustained above 7.0 times
or if EBIT/interest expense remains below 1.0 time.
Petco Holdings, Inc. is a national specialty retailer of
premium pet consumables, supplies and companion animals and services
with 1,474 retail locations in 50 states, the District of
Columbia and Puerto Rico as of Aug 1, 2020. The Company also
offers an expanded range of consumables and supplies through its www.petco.com,
www.unleashed.com and www.drsfostersmith.com
websites. Revenue exceeded $4.5 billion for the latest
twelve month period ended August 1, 2020. The company is
owned by CVC Capital Partners Advisory (U.S.) and Canada
Pension Plan Investment Board.
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
debt or security this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures
in relation to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the
same series, category/class of debt, security or pursuant
to a program for which the ratings are derived exclusively from existing
ratings in accordance with Moody's rating practices. For ratings
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
to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would have
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.
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
the rating.
Please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.
Manoj Chadha
VP - Senior Credit Officer
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