The coronavirus outbreak is devastating the casual dining restaurant industry. Mandated dining room closures, shelter-in-place edicts, and contagion fears are sharply reducing restaurant sales volumes. We believe Dallas-based Brinker International Inc.'s operating results will experience significant pressure over the near term, resulting in cash burn and deteriorating credit metrics. We are lowering our issuer credit rating to 'B+' from 'BB-'. Concurrently, we are lowering the rating on the 2023 notes to 'B+' from 'BB-'. The 'BB-' rating on the 2024 notes is unchanged, reflecting our revision of the recovery rating to '2' from '3'. All of our ratings remain on CreditWatch, where we placed them with negative implications on March 17, 2020. The casual dining segment of the restaurant industry
