...- Belgium-based investment holding company Group Bruxelles Lambert SA's (GBL's) recent acquisitions for about 1.7 billion and unsupportive market conditions led its loan-to-value (LTV) ratio to increase to about 22% on an S&P Global Ratings-adjusted basis (or about 14% based on the 7% LTV ratio reported by GBL as of June 30, 2022, and pro forma the recent acquisitions closed in July 2022). - While we consider this level of leverage too high for the rating, we anticipate that GBL will take actions to curb the spike in the coming few quarters in line with its financial policy to retain a reported LTV ratio below 10% through the cycle and not exceeding 25% for a prolonged period. - At the same time, we note that the group's portfolio liquidity and average creditworthiness have deteriorated since we assigned the rating in 2020, which is only partly offset by a slightly higher asset diversification through acquisitions in resilient sectors and disposals. The share of listed assets, as adjusted...
