Fitch Lowers GCE

Fitch has lowered the credit rating on Chile’s Compania General de Electricidad (GCE) to BBB minus from BBB. The move “reflects continued weakness of its credit metrics, and no prospects for meaningful medium-term recovery,” the agency says. Leverage is a particular problem, with debt to Ebitda at 5.8x for the year ended June 30, compared to 4.9x at year-end 2009. Though the June number is an improvement from 6.2x at year-end, Fitch expects it will remain above 5x over the next three years. The agency could lower the company’s credit standing if debt-to-Editda rising above 6x. The outlook is stable.