Research Update: High Liner Foods Inc. Outlook Revised To Stable From Negative On Improved Operating Performance

Favorable consumer demand due to stay-at-home mandates and product-mix shift has allowed Lunenberg, N.S.-based High Liner Foods Inc. to improve its operating performance and boost EBITDA compared with our previous forecast. We expect High Liner to maintain 2021 debt to EBITDA in the mid-4x area, a notable improvement from our previous expectation of about 6x. Therefore, on Feb. 3, 2021, S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook on High Liner to stable from negative. At the same time, S&P Global Ratings affirmed all of its ratings on the company including its 'B' issuer credit rating on the company. The stable outlook reflects our expectation that High Liner can sustain its improved EBITDA and margins over the next 12 months. We believe

...- Favorable consumer demand due to stay-at-home mandates and product-mix shift has allowed Lunenberg, N.S.-based High Liner Foods Inc. to improve its operating performance and boost EBITDA compared with our previous forecast. - We expect High Liner to maintain 2021 debt to EBITDA in the mid-4x area, a notable improvement from our previous expectation of about 6x. - Therefore, on Feb. 3, 2021, S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook on High Liner to stable from negative. At the same time, S&P Global Ratings affirmed all of its ratings on the company including its 'B' issuer credit rating on the company. - The stable outlook reflects our expectation that High Liner can sustain its improved EBITDA and margins over the next 12 months. We believe the company can sustain EBITDA in the 4.5x-5.0x range over the next 12 months, a level we believe sufficiently supports the rating....

Research Update