The actions of Falabella They fell 2.6% this Tuesday on the Santiago Stock Exchange, after learning of the reduction in their credit rating by Fitch Ratings, a US risk rating agency: from “BBB-” to “BB+”.
The credit note to BB+ with “negative” perspective, also known as “junk bond”, This means that the Chilean capital firm will have less investment capacity due to its high levels of debt.
The downgrade not only affected the company itself, but also Sodimac, which went from AA- to A+ in the national issuer risk classifications and its local bonds, also with negative outlooks.
Regarding this bad news for Falabella, economist Tomás Flores pointed out that it is likely that purchases by institutional investors will begin to reverse due to the risk profile. That is, they could begin to remove the company from their investment portfolio.
Will this situation have effects on pension funds? The AFPs have US$612 million in firm bonds and just under $600 billion in shares.
Guillero Araya, from the Renta 4 stock brokerage, pointed out that there is a limit to buying shares in high-risk companies, so he estimated that there should be slack that does not translate into a significant impact on the administrators.
Francisco Labarca, an academic at the Faculty of Economics and Business at the Universidad del Desarrollo, had a different opinion: he indicated that there could be a short-term effect on pension funds.
“When investments are viewed as having greater risk, what it generates is that investors stop being in those instruments, generating an oversupply” and a drop in prices, he said.
And he added: “without a doubt, the AFPs, having such a high amount, will see their valuations of these bonds affected.”
Through a statement, the company linked to the Solari family assured that “it has taken the necessary measures to have a solid liquidity position that allows it to face all financial commitments with peace of mind.”
In addition, it announced a process to sell real estate assets for an amount of between US$800 million and US$1,000 million; and a simplification of its structure in Peru.
