Compass Minerals International announced that S&P Global Ratings has upgraded the Company's corporate credit rating to 'B+' from 'B', with a stable outlook. S&P also upgraded the rating on the Company's senior secured debt to 'BB' from 'BB-' and senior unsecured debt to 'B+' from 'B'. In addition, S&P's '1' recovery rating on the secured debt and '4' recovery rating on the unsecured debt are unchanged. The upgrade reflects S&P's view that the Company's debt paydown and improved profitability for leverage reduction has lowered S&P Global Ratings-adjusted leverage from 4.2x to 3.1x for the last 12 months. S&P noted the Company used "sale proceeds with cash on the balance sheet to retire $150M of its 2027 senior unsecured notes, materially improving its debt profile and extending weighted-average maturity. Additionally, higher profitability in the first quarter from a significant increase in highway deicing volumes reduced leverage."
