Frankfurt am Main, December 18, 2013 -- Moody's Investor Service (Moody's) has today changed the outlook
on Voith GmbH's (Voith) Baa2 bond rating to negative from stable.
Concurrently, Moody's has affirmed this rating.
RATINGS RATIONALE
"Today's rating action reflects the increasing risk that,
despite decisive actions, Voith will not be able to restore its
financial metrics to levels commensurate with a Baa2 rating, such
as Moody's adjusted EBITA margin of 7%-8% or
retained cash flow to net debt moving to mid twenties, in next 12-18
months," says Martin Fujerik, Moody's lead analyst
for Voith. The metrics achieved in the financial year ending September
2013 (FY12/13), with Moody's adjusted EBITA margin of 4.2%
and retained cash flow (RCF)/net debt of 23%, is rather weak
and no longer displays the characteristics of a Baa2 rating. However,
Moody's notes that Voith's results are burdened by substantial
restructuring and various one-off charges (more than EUR150 million
on the group level), which are unlikely to reoccur next year in
the same magnitude.
Voith has recently initiated its group-wide "Voith 150+"
program which combines initiatives and measures already under way or planned
for the future, in all group divisions and in the holding company.
"Voith 150+" focuses on optimizing structures and processes and the
existing portfolio of products and services and aims to achieve annual
costs savings of EUR150 million and release of additional working capital
of EUR100 million.
Parts of the "Voith 150+" program relate to the group's Paper
division, which is suffering from the structural decline in demand
for graphic grade paper. This decline is unlikely to reverse and
thus requires Voith to reposition the portfolio towards more growing segments
(such as tissue or packaging) and markets with greater growth potential
(such as China), where the local competition is very intense.
Order intake in Voith's Paper division again significantly declined
in FY12/13 and we do not expect any material pick up in the short term.
Moody's believes it is going to be challenging for Voith's
other divisions to fully compensate for the inevitable revenue decline
in the Paper division over next 12-18 months.
Despite Voith's Hydro division having good long-term growth
potential, Moody's expects ongoing weakness in the hydro power
market to continue with somewhat subdued demand levels over the next 12-18
months. Profitability in Voith's Turbo division was disappointing
in FY12/13, but in the absence of one-off charges and with
portfolio clean-ups, Moody's expects the division's
profitability to reach historical levels, even if revenues somewhat
decline. After two years of healthy growth, Moody's
expects that Voith Industrial Services' revenues will stabilise,
with improvement in profitability dependent to some extent on (1) the
company's ability to turnaround its problematic Energy-Petro-Chemical
business and (2) continuing healthy demand in automotive market.
Overall, the rating agency expects that Voith's group revenues
will fall by low single digits in percentage terms in FY13/14 with Moody's
adjusted EBITA margins improving towards 6.5% and RCF/net
debt in the low twenties in percentage terms, which would still
position Voith somewhat weakly in the Baa2 category.
Voith's Baa2 rating remains supported by its (1) market and technology
leadership in many of its relevant markets, such as hydro power
plants and paper machines; (2) very diversified and well balanced
portfolio, with the group serving many end markets, which
typically follow different cycles in terms of length and timing (i.e.,
paper, transport, energy, oil & gas, raw materials),
backed by healthy order backlog of almost 11 months of sales; (3)
strategy to increase geographical diversification, thereby reducing
the company's reliance on Europe; (4) healthy liquidity profile
and conservative financial strategy; and (5) ability to generate
free cash flow even if profitability is under pressure.
The Baa2 rating is constrained by (1) the cyclical nature of most of Voith's
end-customer industries; (2) its still significant exposure
to Europe, where almost 50% of the group's FY12/13
revenues were generated; (3) a risk of additional restructuring charges
driven by need to reposition or restructure the product portfolio;
(4) low profitability compared to similarly rated peers, which reflects,
in particular, (i) Voith's large and very diversified portfolio
with limited synergies, (ii) the high proportion of the group's
employees that are located in high-cost countries (around 40%
of the headcount is in Germany), and (iii) its presence in businesses
with structurally low margins, such as facility management within
Voith Industrial Services.
WHAT COULD CHANGE THE RATING UP/DOWN
Moody's would stabilise the rating outlook if Voith improved its
Moody's-adjusted EBITA margin to 7%-8%
(4.2% in FY12/13) and its RCF/net debt towards the mid-twenties
in percentage terms (23% in FY12/13). A rating upgrade,
which is currently unlikely, would require a notable improvement
in Voith's credit metrics, with the group achieving an EBITA
margin in the high single digits in percentage terms on a sustainable
basis, RCF/net debt close to 30% and continued positive free
cash flow.
Conversely, the rating could come under negative pressure Voith's
EBITA margin remains below 6.5% or its RCF/net debt ratio
deteriorates below 20% over a longer period. Likewise,
recurring negative free cash flow or a weakening of Voith's solid
liquidity profile could exert pressure on the rating.
PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGIES
The principal methodology used in this rating was the Global Heavy Manufacturing
Rating Methodology published in November 2009. Please see the Credit
Policy page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.
Voith is a diversified mechanical engineering group organised into four
divisions: Voith Paper, Voith Turbo, Voith Hydro (a
65/35 joint-venture with Siemens AG) and Voith Industrial Services.
Voith employs some 43,000 people in more than 50 countries and generated
EUR5.7 billion in FY12/13. The group is privately owned
by descendants of the Voith family, but has been led by non-family
senior managers for decades.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt,
this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation
to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series
or category/class of debt 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 rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular
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 rating action, and
whose ratings may change as a result of this 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.
Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit
rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating
review.
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.
Martin Fujerik
Analyst
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's Deutschland GmbH
An der Welle 5
Frankfurt am Main 60322
Germany
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
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Matthias Hellstern
Managing Director
Corporate Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Releasing Office:
Moody's Deutschland GmbH
An der Welle 5
Frankfurt am Main 60322
Germany
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Moody's changes outlook to negative on Voith's Baa2 rating