Standard&Poor's Ratings Services' ratings on Minerva S.A. reflect the firm's leveraged financial profile and its significant interest burden which, despite efforts to reduce interest costs, will continue hampering its ability to generate significant free operating cash flow (FOCF). The ratings also incorporate Minerva's dependence on the successful ramp-up of its expansion plans and "greenfield" projects (including Minerva Dawn Farms) to maintain improving cash flows. We also consider the company's exposure to the highly competitive global meat industry, its highly leveraged financial profile, and its still-weak (though improving) credit metrics. Minerva's increasingly diversified geographic asset base, expertise in maintaining high plant utilization rates, and capital structure improvements following its equity offering and debt refinancing partially mitigate these risks. We
