Loblaw Cos. Ltd. CCR Affirmed At 'BBB'; Liquidity Score Revised To Strong From Adequate; Outlook Stable

We are affirming our 'BBB' long-term corporate credit rating on Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and revising our assessment of its liquidity to strong from adequate. We base our revision to the liquidity assessment on our view that expected sources-to-uses of cash for Loblaw (excluding PC Bank) over the next 24 months will be 1.5x-2.0x. Contributing factors include stronger operating performance in 2016 than we had previously expected and the recent announcement that Loblaw plans to sell its gas stations business for about C$540 million. The stable outlook reflects our view that adjusted debt-to-EBITDA will be about 3x over the next couple of years. TORONTO (S&P Global Ratings) April 21, 2017--S&P Global Ratings today said it affirmed its 'BBB' long-term corporate credit

...+ We are affirming our '###' long-term corporate credit rating on Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and revising our assessment of its liquidity to strong from adequate. + We base our revision to the liquidity assessment on our view that expected sources-to-uses of cash for Loblaw (excluding PC Bank) over the next 24 months will be 1.5x-2.0x. + Contributing factors include stronger operating performance in 2016 than we had previously expected and the recent announcement that Loblaw plans to sell its gas stations business for about C$540 million. + The stable outlook reflects our view that adjusted debt-to-EBITDA will be about 3x over the next couple of years. TORONTO (S&P Global Ratings) April 21, 2017--S&P Global Ratings today said it affirmed its '###' long-term corporate credit rating on Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and revised its assessment of Loblaw's liquidity to strong from adequate. The outlook is stable. "We revised our liquidity assessment on the company based on our view that expected sources-to-uses of...

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