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       T R O U B L E D   C O M P A N Y   R E P O R T E R

                 L A T I N   A M E R I C A

          Wednesday, October 16, 2024, Vol. 25, No. 208

                           Headlines



C O S T A   R I C A

INSTITUTO COSTARRICENSE DE ELECTRICIDAD: Moody's Ups Rating to Ba2


J A M A I C A

KINGSTON AIRPORT: S&P Rates $480MM Senior Secured Notes 'BB'


P A N A M A

CREDICORP BANK: Fitch Alters Outlook on BB+ LongTerm IDR to Stable

                           - - - - -


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C O S T A   R I C A
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INSTITUTO COSTARRICENSE DE ELECTRICIDAD: Moody's Ups Rating to Ba2
------------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Ratings has upgraded the ratings of Instituto Costarricense
de Electricidad (ICE) and Reventazon Finance Trust (Reventazon) to
Ba2 from Ba3. Concomitantly, Moody's have upgraded ICE's Baseline
Credit Assessment (BCA) to ba2 from ba3. The outlook on all ratings
was changed to stable from positive.

The rating action follows the rating upgrade of the Government of
Costa Rica to Ba3 from B1 with outlook remaining positive.

RATINGS RATIONALE

The upgrade of ICE's Corporate Family Rating and Senior Unsecured
rating to Ba2 results from the upgrade of the Government of Costa
Rica's Issuer Rating to Ba3, as a consequence of a strengthened
fiscal profile that is benefitting the country from a marked
improvement in debt affordability, stronger debt management and
lower borrowing costs.

ICE's Ba2 ratings derives from the application of Moody's joint
default analysis ("JDA") framework for government related issuers
("GRIs"), which takes into account the (i) baseline credit
assessment of ba2 as a measure of ICE's standalone
creditworthiness, (ii) the Ba3 rating of the Government of Costa
Rica as ICE's support provider, (iii) Moody's estimates of strong
implied government support in case of extraordinary financial
distress and (iv) a very high default dependence between ICE and
the Government of Costa Rica. Those assumptions are premised on the
company's obligation to reinvest all net profit in further
developing the national electrification and generation development
plans with no dividend payments; electric operations being exempt
from income taxes; and the strategic importance to the overall
Costa Rican economy and key role as executant of the government's
energy policies and development plans.

ICE's ba2 BCA is positioned one-notch above the Government of Costa
Rica's rating reflecting Moody's current view that the company has
a fundamentally stronger credit profile than that of the
government. Supporting this view is ICE's key role as an autonomous
government entity and dominant position, as the largest vertically
integrated utility in the country. The company further benefits
from the growing energy demand in Costa Rica along with a
diversified revenue stream from their telecom business, which
provide for stable and strong metrics. The rating factors the
company's  consistent deleveraging trend since 2018 with a
well-distributed debt amortization profile. Despite a prospective
increase in the investment plan to meet Costa Rica's growing
demand, Moody's expectation is that ICE's consolidated leverage
metrics will remain solid over the next three years, with CFO
pre-working capital to debt and the interest coverage ratio staying
above 15% and 2.8x respectively.

The main credit risks incorporated in Moody's rating analysis
include (i) the significant foreign exchange risk exposure, as 50%
of the total debt is US dollar denominated while revenues are 100%
local Colones and tariffs are not adjusted to cover FX variations,
and (ii) an increasing regulatory lag of variable costs recovery
due to the change from quarterly adjustments to annual adjustments,
which is adding negative pressure in working capital.

ICE's rating outlook change to stable from positive reflects
Moody's view that ICE's metrics will remain robust and well
positioned for the Ba2 rating category. Further improvement in its
credit quality is currently limited by the growing capital
expenditures and execution risks with the planned investments on
the 5G infrastructure and renewables capacity. Moody's expect those
investments to be financed in a combination of internal and
external cash sources constraining free cash flow generation until
2027.

The upgrade on Reventazon's senior secured rating to Ba2 from Ba3
and change of outlook to stable from positive considers the
significant dependance this entity has on ICE's financial
performance, given the obligations it assumed under the contractual
operational and financial arrangements. ICE acts as Reventazon's
sponsor, operator, lessee, EPC contractor and off-taker.

RATINGS OUTLOOK

ICE's and Reventazon's stable rating outlooks incorporates Moody's
expectation that retained cash flow (RCF)/debt metric and (CFO
Pre-W/C + Interest Expense) / Interest Expense will remain above
13% and 2.5x respectively on a sustained basis.

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS

Upward pressure would require an upgrade of Costa Rica's sovereign
rating while ICE records cash interest coverage above 3.5x and CFO
pre-WC/Debt above 17% on a sustained basis. An upgrade of ICE's
ratings would likely drive an upgrade of Reventazon Finance Trust's
rating.

A downgrade of Costa Rica's sovereign rating could lead to a rating
downgrade for ICE. Additionally, if ICE's debt increases
significantly above the expected levels, such that its credit
metrics deteriorate and cash flow interest coverage falls below
2.0x or retained cash flow (RCF)/debt declines below 10% for an
extended period, downward pressure on the ratings will rise. A
downgrade of ICE's ratings would also likely result in a downgrade
of Reventazon Finance Trust's rating.

LIST OF AFFECTED RATINGS

Issuer: Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE)

Upgrades:

LT Corporate Family Rating, Upgraded to Ba2 from Ba3

Baseline Credit Assessment, Upgraded to ba2 from ba3

Senior Unsecured, Upgraded to Ba2 from Ba3

Outlook Actions:

Outlook, Changed To Stable From Positive

Issuer: Reventazon Finance Trust

Upgrades:

LT Corporate Family Rating, Upgraded to Ba2 from Ba3

Senior Secured, Upgraded to Ba2 from Ba3

Outlook Actions:

Outlook, Changed To Stable From Positive

The methodologies used in these ratings were Regulated Electric and
Gas Utilities published in August 2024.

COMPANIES' PROFILE

Headquartered in San Jose, Costa Rica, Instituto Costarricense de
Electricidad (ICE) is a government-owned vertically integrated
electric utility and an integrated telecommunications services
provider. ICE's electric and telecommunications operations are
subject to the purview of the Costa Rican regulatory bodies
Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Publicos and Superintendencia
de Telecomunicaciones, respectively.

Reventazon Finance Trust is a financing vehicle used to raise
proceeds for the construction of the 305.5 MW hydroelectric plant
located on the Reventazon River in Costa Rica, which is owned and
operated by ICE.




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J A M A I C A
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KINGSTON AIRPORT: S&P Rates $480MM Senior Secured Notes 'BB'
------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings, on Oct. 11, 2024, assigned its 'BB' rating to
$480 million senior secured notes on Kingston Airport Revenue
Finance LLC (KingAir or the project).

KingAir issued senior secured notes for $480 million maturing in
2036 with a 6.75% coupon.

Following the transaction's completion and upon receipt and
satisfactory review of the documentation, on Oct. 11, 2024, S&P
Global Ratings assigned its 'BB' rating to the issuance.

The stable outlook incorporate S&P's expectation that the project
would withstand a hypothetical sovereign stress scenario
attributable to its financial structure, which includes an offshore
cash-funded reserve account and relatively persistent traffic
performance. This is because of the airport's importance for
Jamaica, enabling the project to post debt service coverage (DSCRs)
above 1.25x in the upcoming 12-24 months. Nevertheless, the debt
rating is capped at the 'BB' transfer and convertibility (T&C)
assessment of Jamaica.

KingAir is a bankruptcy-remote non-recourse special purpose vehicle
(SPV) entitled to receive 53.22% of the Norman Manley International
Airport's (NMIA) total revenue, plus a top-up from the government
in the case the project receives a lower revenue percentage for any
reason. According to the documents, KingAir's right to receive this
revenue share won't be dependent on which entity operates the
airport. Therefore, if the concession ends early, or if it won't be
renewed, KingAir's creditors would still have the right to receive
the pledged revenue.

The revenue share is KingAir's only source of funds, unless the
top-up is triggered (which we do not anticipate at this stage), to
repay the $480 million senior secured 144/A/Reg S notes. The latter
benefit from the pledge of KingAir's shares, the right to receive
its revenue share, and an offshore cash-funded debt service reserve
account (DSRA). In addition, neither the operator's portion of
revenue that covers the operation and maintenance of the airport,
nor the associated expenses are part of KingAir's cash waterfall,
structure, or security package.

S&P said, "Given the unique characteristics of the project, we rate
it according to our Principles Of Credit Ratings methodology.
Particularly, we assess the cash flow coverage according to the
contractual cash waterfall at the project level.

"Lastly, we view the airport as a government-related entity because
we believe there is a moderately high likelihood that the
government would provide extraordinary support to the NMIA in the
event of financial distress. This is in addition to the top-up
payments that the government will inject in the project's financial
structure in the event of the airport operator's failure to pay the
concession fee. (Please see additional details in  King Air Revenue
Finance, published on Sept. 19, 2024).

"Based on the final documentation, the overall terms and
conditions, covenants, and structural elements are in line with the
preliminary documents that we analyzed. The increased amount of the
issuance to $480 million from $440 million is neutral to the
rating, as we expect the DSCR to remain similar to our preliminary
expectation. In our view, the minimum DSCR will be 1.25x in 2025
and the median one 1.3x until the notes are due in 2036, as the
increased debt amount was offset by lower fixed interest rate. That
being said, we now forecast a higher balloon at refinancing in
2036, which increased by $50 million. Nevertheless, this change has
no impact on the rating.

"The rating on KingAir's debt is one notch above the 'BB-' rating
on Jamaica, as we expect the project to withstand a hypothetical
sovereign stress scenario because of its resiliency under a stress
test that incorporates a decrease of 10% in air passenger level and
no rate adjustments. We believe KingAir will be able to withstand
such stress without depleting its DSRA. In addition, the project's
accounts will be held offshore at an investment-grade rated
financial institution, to which the airport operator will transfer
KingAir's revenue share on a monthly basis. In addition, the
airport's revenue is in dollars, mitigating any foreign-exchange
risks."

However, the rating is capped by the 'BB' T&C assessment of
Jamaica, which reflects our view of the likelihood of a sovereign's
restricting the nonsovereign entities' access to foreign exchange
to service their debts.




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P A N A M A
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CREDICORP BANK: Fitch Alters Outlook on BB+ LongTerm IDR to Stable
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Fitch Ratings has affirmed Credicorp Bank, S.A.'s Long-Term Issuer
Default Rating (IDR) at 'BB+', Short-Term IDR at 'B', Viability
Rating (VR) at 'bb+' and the Government Support Rating (GSR) at 'No
Support' ('ns'). Fitch has also affirmed Credicorp's Long- and
Short-Term National Ratings at 'AA(pan)' and 'F1+(pan)',
respectively. The Rating Outlook for the Long-Term IDR and
Long-Term National Rating has been revised to Stable from
Negative.

The Outlook revision to Stable reflects lower-than-expected
pressures on the bank's risk profile and asset quality, due to
fewer challenges from Panama's operating environment (OE) for
banks. This action follows Fitch's revision of Panama's OE outlook
to stable from negative and the affirmation of the OE score at
'bb+'. Credicorp's asset quality metrics are better than its peers
and show an improving trend. This improvement reflects Credicorp's
prudent underwriting standards, characterized by conservative
growth and a focus on less risky credit segments, such a consumer
lending to pensioners and government employees.

Key Rating Drivers

Operating Environment Stabilization: Fitch revised the outlook for
Panama's banking system OE score to Stable from Negative and
affirmed it at 'bb+'. Despite the economic slowdown and high
interest rate environment, the banking system's credit growth,
asset quality, and profitability metrics are performing better than
expected. Additionally, GDP growth is projected to reach around 4%
in 2025, following an upward revision to 2.8% for 2024 from 1.5%.
This suggests that pressures on business conditions for banks will
be lower than in 2024.

Consistent Business Profile with High Capitalization: Credicorp's
international and national scale ratings are driven by its 'bb+'
VR. Fitch views Credicorp's business profile as strong, supported
by conservative risk management, which has led to good asset
quality metrics and resilient profitability. Credicorp's capital
strength significantly influences Fitch's decision to rate the bank
at the same level as the Panamanian sovereign rating and mitigates
the risks inherent in its business model.

Consolidated Business Model: Fitch's 'bb-' score for Credicorp's
business profile exceeds the implied level of 'b'. Credicorp's
consistent business model, marked by a lower-risk, atomized
customer base and proven earnings generation, offset its lower
levels of total operating income (TOI) compared to regional peers.
From 2020 to 2023, the bank's average TOI was USD70 million, and as
of June 2024, it increased to USD76 million, reflecting a 0.3% yoy
increase.

Credicorp's market position is moderate, ranking as the 10th
largest bank in the country by total assets. The bank's strategy
focuses on strengthening its local franchise through consumer
lending and enhancing operational and commercial efficiencies via
medium-term digital transformation.

Well-Managed Risks: Fitch revised the Outlook of the bank's Risk
Profile assessment score to Stable from Negative, affirming it at
'bb+'. Fitch considers Credicorp's underwriting standards and risk
controls to be sound, as shown by controlled loan deterioration
over the economic cycle, resulting in lower credit costs than its
direct peers. As of June 2024, the loan-impairment charges to
average gross loans ratio was 0.5% (average 2020 to 2023: 0.9%),
compared to 1% for some other mid-sized banks.

Fitch's assessment is also supported by the bank's reasonable
levels of collaterals, prudent investment policies and conservative
balance sheet growth. Credicorp's expected loan growth for 2024 and
2025 is projected to be relevant, which Fitch considers reasonable
and supported by its ample capital ratios.

Good Asset Quality: Fitch revised Credicorp's asset quality outlook
to Stable from Negative and affirmed the score at 'bb+'. This
reflects the bank's better credit quality compared to most local
peers by metrics and concentrations. As of June 2024, the stage 3
loans to total loan portfolio ratio stood at 2%, an improvement
from the 2020-2023 average of 2.6%, despite the challenging OE.
Loan loss allowances coverage of stage 3 loans was at a reasonable
107.6% due to the asset quality recovery. The good levels of
collaterals also support this assessment.

As of June 2024, Credicorp's collaterals represented 81% to the
total loan portfolio (June 2023: 83%), while largest top 20
borrowers represented 0.4x of common equity Tier 1 (CET1). Fitch
expects the bank will keep loan delinquencies at manageable levels,
supported by a focus on a sector and products where it has
extensive expertise.

Consistent Profitability Supported by Associates: Credicorp has
demonstrated good profitability and resilience to the challenging
OE. As of June 2024, the operating profit to risk-weighted assets
(RWA) ratio was 2.4%, well above the 1.7% average from 2020 to
2023. Stable asset performance and recurrent profits from the
bank's investments in associated companies benefited the bank's
profitability. Net interest income from the loan book continues to
make up nearly 75% of TOI.

However, Credicorp's operating profits are significantly supported
by profits from investments in associated companies, which
contributed close to 52% of the bank's operating profit as of June
2024 (average 2020-2023: 40%). Fitch expects Credicorp'
profitability to remain strong, supported by its growth targets and
ongoing benefits from its associates.

Capitalization a Rating Strength: Credicorp's capitalization and
leverage ratios are stronger than similarly rated peers and are
considered a rating strength by Fitch. Fitch upgraded the score to
'bbb-' from 'bb+' with Stable Outlook. As of June 2024, the bank's
regulatory CET1 to RWA ratio stood at 21.9%, far exceeding the
total regulatory minimum ratio of 10.5%. Including the regulatory
countercyclical buffer (CCyB), the CET1 ratio reached 23.6%. Fitch
expects the bank's capitalization ratios to remain strong in the
foreseeable future, supported by reasonable credit growth,
consistent earnings generation, and moderate dividend payments.

Stable Deposit Base: Credicorp's financing is supported by a
growing deposit base that has historically maintained the loan to
deposit ratio below 100%, a level better than closest peers. As of
June 2024, the ratio stood at 91.3% (average 2020 to 2023: 93%),
influenced by moderate loan growth. Although depositor
concentration is high, with the deposit base representing 89% of
total funding, Credicorp complements its funding structure with
medium-term wholesale sources that support asset-liability
management. As of June 2024, the balance of the 20 largest
depositors represented 28.6% of total deposits.

Rating Sensitivities

Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Negative
Rating Action/Downgrade

- Downward revision of Fitch's score of the OE;

- Consistent deterioration of financial performance due to asset
quality worsening that results in the CET1 to RWA ratio, including
the CCyB, to levels consistently below 21%;

- Materially lower TOI level due to traditional banking business
deterioration and lower profits from the investment in associated
companies.

Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Positive
Rating Action/Upgrade

- There is limited upside potential for Credicorp's VRs, IDRs and
National Scale ratings in the short and medium term since Fitch
does not expect to rate a bank with Credicorp's franchise and
competitive position higher than the sovereign rating, due to its
business and risk concentrations.

OTHER DEBT AND ISSUER RATINGS: KEY RATING DRIVERS

National-Scale Senior Unsecured Debt: Credicorp's senior unsecured
debt is rated at the same level as the bank's Long-Term National
Rating, as in Fitch's view, the likelihood of default on the debt
is the same as that for Credicorp.

National-Scale Subordinated Debt (Tier 2): The notes are rated
three-notches below the bank's 'AA(pan)' national scale rating, the
anchor rating. There are two notches adjustment to reflect the
loss-severity risk and an additional one notch for non-performance
risk. The loss-severity risk reflects the issue's subordinated
preferred debt status and expected poor recovery prospects in a
liquidation event relative to the bank's senior debt.

The non-performance risk considers the option of the bank to defer
or cancel interest payments in a non-cumulative basis if the bank
breaches the regulatory minimum capital ratios or if other events
that could impact the bank's capital adequacy occur.

GSR: The GSR of 'ns' reflects Fitch's view that support from the
central authorities cannot be relied upon given the banking
system's large size regarding economy and weak support stance due
to Panama's lack of a lender of last resort.

OTHER DEBT AND ISSUER RATINGS: RATING SENSITIVITIES

National-Scale Senior Unsecured Debt: The Long-Term National Scale
Debt Ratings would be downgraded or upgraded based on changes to
Credicorp's Long-Term National Scale Rating.

National-Scale Subordinated Debt: The rating of the Tier 2
subordinated notes would be downgraded or upgraded based on changes
to Credicorp's Long-Term National Scale Rating, at all times
maintaining a three-notch difference from the bank's national-scale
long-term rating.

GSR:

- There is no downside potential for the GSR.

- As Panama is a dollarized country with no lender of last resort,
an upgrade of the GSR is unlikely.

VR ADJUSTMENTS

The Operating Environment Score of 'bb+' has been assigned below
the 'bbb' category implied score due to the following adjustment
reason: Sovereign Rating (negative).

The Business Profile score of 'bb-' has been assigned above the 'b'
implied score due to the following adjustment reasons: Business
Model (positive).

ESG Considerations

The highest level of ESG credit relevance is a score of '3', unless
otherwise disclosed in this section. A score of '3' means ESG
issues are credit-neutral or have only a minimal credit impact on
the entity, either due to their nature or the way in which they are
being managed by the entity. Fitch's ESG Relevance Scores are not
inputs in the rating process; they are an observation on the
relevance and materiality of ESG factors in the rating decision.

   Entity/Debt                      Rating              Prior
   -----------                      ------              -----
Credicorp Bank,
S.A.              LT IDR             BB+     Affirmed   BB+
                  ST IDR             B       Affirmed   B
                  Natl LT            AA(pan) Affirmed   AA(pan)
                  Natl ST            F1+(pan)Affirmed   F1+(pan)
                  Viability          bb+     Affirmed   bb+
                  Government Support ns      Affirmed   ns

   senior
   unsecured      Natl LT            AA(pan) Affirmed   AA(pan)

   subordinated   Natl LT            A(pan)  Affirmed   A(pan)



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S U B S C R I P T I O N   I N F O R M A T I O N

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