Fitch Ratings recently affirmed its "B+" rating on Nashville, Tenn.-based Hospital Corporation of America's debt, saying that while the for-profit hospital chain has solid liquidity metrics, there are some concerns about its debt that will mature over the next 18 months.
As of June 30, HCA had roughly $27 billion of outstanding debt. HCA also had $518 million of cash on hand and 4.2x total debt-to-EBITDA. For the rest of 2012 and going into 2013, HCA has "some sizeable near-term maturities in the capital structure," according to Fitch's report. This includes $1.5 billion of unsecured notes and $1.7 billion of bank term loan maturities.
Overall, Fitch analysts believe HCA has the financial wherewithal to deal with the short-term debt obligations, as HCA is still producing high volumes of cash. In addition, if HCA is able to maintain its total debt-to-EBITDA ratio below 4.5x over the next 12 to 18 months, Fitch could consider a positive rating action.
As of June 30, HCA had roughly $27 billion of outstanding debt. HCA also had $518 million of cash on hand and 4.2x total debt-to-EBITDA. For the rest of 2012 and going into 2013, HCA has "some sizeable near-term maturities in the capital structure," according to Fitch's report. This includes $1.5 billion of unsecured notes and $1.7 billion of bank term loan maturities.
Overall, Fitch analysts believe HCA has the financial wherewithal to deal with the short-term debt obligations, as HCA is still producing high volumes of cash. In addition, if HCA is able to maintain its total debt-to-EBITDA ratio below 4.5x over the next 12 to 18 months, Fitch could consider a positive rating action.
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