Rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has said that there is no further change to Chiquita's rating or outlook following the announcement that its fully-owned subsidiary Chiquita Brands L.L.C. had successfully amended its existing Credit Agreement.
In a statement, Chiquita had said that the amendment provided the company with more operating flexibility to execute its strategy and to manage the volatility inherent in its businesses.
But S&P noted that while concerns remain over Chiquita, it would only consider lowering its rating if the group's performance declines.
'While the amendment mitigates our prior concerns about limited covenant cushion, the negative outlook continues to reflect our uncertainty about future improvement in Chiquita's weakened operating performance,' the group said in a statement. 'We expect credit measures will remain close to current levels over the near term, including rolling four-quarter average lease-adjusted leverage above 6.0x, and would still consider lowering the ratings if Chiquita's operating performance continues to decline, or credit protection measures meaningfully weaken and adjusted leverage is sustained significantly above 6.0x.'
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