The 'B+' corporate credit rating assigned by Standard&Poor's Ratings Services to Brazil-based company Marfrig Frigorificos e Comércio de Alimentos S.A. (Marfrig) reflects its exposure to the volatile and cyclical beef, pork, and poultry industries; the company's high financial leverage; and its exposure to the challenging business environment in Brazil, with tighter credit markets, high cattle cost, and weak profitability. Marfrig's increasingly diversified business portfolio and efficient distribution channels in both local and external markets and our expectations that Marfrig's results will improve with recently acquired new assets partially offset the negatives. Although, like the rest of the industry in Brazil, Marfrig has faced tighter profitability in its beef slaughtering and deboning operations, we believe the company's diversified product
