CariCRIS reaffirms ‘good creditworthiness’ ratings of Eastern Caribbean Home Mortgage Bank

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RATING ACTION:

On June 13, 2025, CariCRIS reaffirmed the assigned issuer ratings of CariA (Local and Foreign Currency Ratings) on the regional rating scale and jmAA (Local and Foreign Currency Rating) on the Jamaica national scale to GraceKennedy Limited (GKL or the Group). CariCRIS also reaffirmed the assigned issue ratings of the Group’s bond issue of up to J $3 billion ratings at CariA (Local Currency Rating) on the regional rating scale and jmAA (Local Currency Rating) on the Jamaica national scale. A stable outlook was assigned. 

RATING SENSITIVITY FACTORS:

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to an improvement in the Ratings and/ or Outlook include:

• An improvement in the creditworthiness of the Government of Jamaica
• Improvement in PAT margin to 5.5% and over sustained for 2 consecutive years
• Improvement in Operating Profit margin to 7.5% and over sustained for 2 consecutive years
• An increase in profitability resulting in return on assets (ROA) > 5% for 2 consecutive years

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to a lowering of the Ratings and/ or Outlook include:

• Substantial and sustained deterioration in operating revenue of more than 10% over 2 successive years
• A decline in operating profit margin to 5% or below
• Impending trade tensions and/or a material increase in tariffs that can adversely impact supply chain and inventory costs resulting in the GP margin falling to below 35%
• Decline in the parent company’s DSCR ratio to <1.33 times or fall in effective DSCR to below 1.5x
• Increase in Debt to EBITDA ratio to >4.0 times
• A lowering of the creditworthiness of the Government of Jamaica

CariCRIS reaffirms ‘good’ creditworthiness ratings to GraceKennedy Limited and its bond issue of up to J $3 billion

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RATING ACTION:

On June 13, 2025, CariCRIS reaffirmed the assigned issue ratings of CariAA- (Foreign and Local Currency Ratings) on the regional scale and ttAA- (Foreign and Local Currency Ratings) on the Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) national scale to the TT $36 million bond issue of Development Finance Limited (Development Finance). A stable outlook was assigned.

RATING SENSITIVITY FACTORS:

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to an improvement in the Ratings and/ or Outlook include:

• Improvement in the credit rating of the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (GORTT)

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to a lowering of the Ratings and/ or Outlook include:

• Material impairment in any of the underlying securities
• Substantial deterioration in the financial performance and position of Development Finance
• Downgrade in the rating of the GORTT
• Breaches to any of the bond’s covenants
• Breach of covenants related to other long-term borrowings including limits related to non-performing loans
• A fall in the bond’s security coverage to below 1.0X

CariCRIS reaffirms ‘high’ creditworthiness ratings to the TT $36 million bond issue of Development Finance Limited

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CariCRIS reaffirms its credit rating of Poly Pet Company Limited

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RATING ACTION:

On June 13, 2025, CariCRIS reaffirmed the Bond Issue Credit Rating assigned to the J $1 billion bond issue of Poly Pet Company Limited (Poly Pet or the Company) at jmBB- (Local Currency Rating) on the Jamaica national scale. The outlook was revised to negative from stable.

RATING SENSITIVITY FACTORS:

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to an improvement in the Ratings and/ or Outlook include:

• Sustained profitability for more than 2 financial years (based on audited accounts)
• Improvement in debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) to over 1 time sustained for more than 2 financial years (based on data from audited accounts)
• Improvement in ratio of debt to tangible net worth (TNW) to below 2 times sustained for 2 financial periods (based on data from audited accounts)
• Sustained compliance with financial bond covenants for more than 2 financial periods (based on audited accounts)

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to a lowering of the Ratings and/ or Outlook include:

• A gross profit (GP) margin less than 33% for 2 consecutive years
• A return on assets (ROA) of less than 1% for 2 consecutive years
• A net increase in intercompany balances by 5% over the next 12 months
• Continued breach of covenants stipulated in the final term sheet/ prospectus for the bond offering
• Inability to refinance the bond’s principal when it becomes due in December 2025
• Changes in environmental laws and regulations toward reducing plastic use in Jamaica
• Material deviation of Poly Pet’s audited financial accounts for June 2024 from management accounts presented, resulting in lower profitability and cash flow adequacy metrics
• Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) less than 65% or failure to fulfil production contracts in the 9 months ended March 2026

RATING ACTION:
On June 13, 2025, CariCRIS reaffirmed the assigned issue ratings at CariAA+ (Foreign and Local Currency Ratings) on the regional rating scale and jmAAA (Foreign and Local Currency Ratings) on the Jamaica national scale to the debt issue of up to US $76 million of Sagicor Financial Company Limited (SFC or the Company). A stable outlook was assigned.

RATING SENSITIVITY FACTORS:
Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to an improvement in the Ratings and/ or Outlook include:

Substantial improvement in the market position and financial performance and profitability of Sagicor Canada and Sagicor Jamaica

Successful acquisitions and/or regional expansion over the next 12 to 15 months with a concomitant material improvement in any of its main segments’ market share and SFC’s overall financial performance

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to a lowering of the Ratings and/ or Outlook include:

A significant change in capitalization, especially on account of future acquisitions resulting in the MCCSR falling to 175% or lower

Substantial deterioration in consolidated financial performance, with a greater than 25% fall in total income

Decrease in Interest Coverage to <1.5X

A reduction in the creditworthiness of Jamaica where SFC derives more than 32% of its net insurance and investment result

Analysts’ Contact Info:

Anelia Oudit
Mobile: 1-868-487-8364
aoudit@caricris.com

Gemma Baliram
gbaliram@caricris.com

Disclaimer: CariCRIS has taken due care and caution in compilation of data for this product. Information has been obtained by CariCRIS from sources which it considers reliable.  However, CariCRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information.  No part of this report may be published / reproduced in any form without CariCRIS’ prior written approval.  CariCRIS is also not responsible for any errors in transmission and especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to the subscribers/ users/ transmitters/ distributors of this product.

CariCRIS reaffirms ‘high creditworthiness’ ratings to the debt issue of up to US $76 million or Jamaican Dollar equivalent of Sagicor Financial Company Limited

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CariCRIS reaffirms ‘good creditworthiness’ ratings of Bourse Securities Limited

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