...Fitch Ratings affirmed Germany-based building materials group HeidelbergCement AG's (HC) Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) and the senior unsecured ratings of HC and HeidelbergCement Finance Luxembourg at `BBB-' in December 2018. The Outlook is Stable. The affirmation reflected HC's strong business profile and improving financial metrics. Fitch expects funds from operations (FFO) adjusted net leverage to approach 3.5x at end-2019 from around 4.4x at end-2017. Fitch believes this will be supported by the group's progress in extracting synergies, its cost and operational efficiencies measures and reduced capex....
