Brazil: AmBev's foreign currency corporate credit rating raised by Standard & Poor’s

Standard & Poor's raised August 02 AmBev's foreign currency corporate credit rating and changed its outlook to positive, citing the company's improved ability to meet its foreign currency obligations, Reuters released July 02.

AmBev is the Brazilian unit of Belgian beer brewer InBev, the world's largest brewer by volume.

"We believe that AmBev has the ability to beat its foreign currency obligations even under a scenario of a foreign-currency default by the the sovereign," S&P said in a statement.

Brazil-based Ambev's "BBB" foreign currency rating is three notches above the country's "BB," sovereign foreign currency rating, which is in junk territory.


S&P raised its foreign currency corporate credit rating to "BBB," the second lowest investment grade rating, from "BBB-minus." S&P revised its outlook to positive from stable, indicating the rating could be raised again over the next two years.

S&P said AmBev's Canadian unit, Labatt, has provided the brewer with additional financial flexibility.

AmBev still relies heavily on its Brazilian operations, but the mix of the "more mature North American operations" with the "emerging Latin American markets" creates a balanced mix of revenue, S&P said.