International credit ratings agency Fitch Ratings has announced that it has upgraded the long-term credit rating of Swiss-headquartered iron ore miner Ferrexpo, whose main interests are in Ukrainian iron ore assets, to 'B' from 'B-', with a positive outlook.
Fitch stated that the upgrade to Ferrexpo’s rating reflects its improved liquidity profile following the signing of a new pre-export financing (PXF) facility in November last year and its expectation that Ferrexpo will be able to redeem its fairly large upcoming debt maturities in 2018 and 2019 from internally generated cash flows and available cash balances. Meanwhile, the positive outlook factors in the credit ratings agency’s view that, should Ferrexpo maintain a solid liquidity profile, its credit profile would be commensurate with a 'B+' rating.