...Full Sovereign Ownership: Corporaci=n Nacional del Cobre de Chile's (Codelco) ratings reflect its 100% ownership by the state of Chile and its strategic importance to the country, which links its rating to the sovereign's. Codelco transfers its entire net income to the Chilean treasury, in addition to taxes and royalties. Increasing Pressure on Credit Profile: Codelco exhibits a weakened stand-alone credit profile as a result of a drop in copper prices and higher debt levels used to finance its large capex program. Codelco's total debt-to-LTM EBITDA ratio of June 30, 2015 was 3.6x compared with 2.5x in June 2014, and its net debt-to-EBITDA ratio was 3.4x versus 2.3x. Elevated Leverage to Remain: Fitch Ratings expects Codelco will continue to slowly increase its debt levels over the next three years, considering the current low copper price environment, high capex, and pending debt maturities, offset by capital contributions committed in the capitalization law. Fitch's base case net debt/EBITDA...
