May. 27 at 8:41 PM
Moody’s Ratings upgraded Wolverine World Wide’s corporate family rating to B1 from B2 on Wednesday, citing improved operating performance, lower leverage and stronger liquidity driven by the recovery of its Merrell and Saucony brands. The agency also raised the company’s senior unsecured notes rating to B2 from B3 while improving its speculative liquidity rating to SGL-2. The outlook remains stable.
Moody’s noted that adjusted debt-to-EBITDA improved to 4.1x from 5.3x, while EBITA-to-interest expense increased to 3.7x from 2.8x. Merrell and Saucony, which account for nearly two-thirds of revenue, continue benefiting from product innovation, broader distribution and strong sales trends. Merrell has seen momentum in hiking and trail running, while Saucony remains strong in both performance and lifestyle running categories.
$WWW