Research Update: Autopistas Metropolitanas De Puerto Rico LLC?s 'BBB-' Rating Affirmed; Off CreditWatch On Better Traffic Performance

We affirmed our 'BBB-' rating on Autopistas Metropolitanas de Puerto Rico LLC's existing $435 million 6.75% senior secured notes due June 2035, $181 million 7.5% senior secured notes due December 2038, and $120 million 7% senior secured notes due December 2038. Weremoved the ratings from CreditWatch where we place them with negative implications on April 13, 2020. The outlook is negative. Since our last review in April 2020, Autopistas Metropolitanas's traffic and toll revenue has performed in line with our expectations despite a prolonged lockdown and curfew conditions in Puerto Rico due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Daily traffic levels have recovered from the trough of April/May 2020 to about 10% below 2019 actual traffic by November 2020. Overall, traffic and

...- We affirmed our '###-' rating on Autopistas Metropolitanas de Puerto Rico LLC's existing $435 million 6.75% senior secured notes due June 2035, $181 million 7.5% senior secured notes due December 2038, and $120 million 7% senior secured notes due December 2038. Weremoved the ratings from CreditWatch where we place them with negative implications on April 13, 2020. The outlook is negative. - Since our last review in April 2020, Autopistas Metropolitanas's traffic and toll revenue has performed in line with our expectations despite a prolonged lockdown and curfew conditions in Puerto Rico due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Daily traffic levels have recovered from the trough of April/May 2020 to about 10% below 2019 actual traffic by November 2020. Overall, traffic and toll revenues in 2020 are down close to 22%-23% nearly in line with the 25%-26% we forecast in April. We anticipate the debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) for 2020 will be weaker at 1.23x but demonstrates the ongoing resiliency...

Research Update