Mexico

Moody’s and Fitch took negative rating actions on Mexico within three minutes of each other late on Wednesday afternoon as concerns over state oil firm Pemex filtered into assessments of the sovereign’s creditworthiness.

Spreads on Latin American bonds widened sharply on Friday after US president Donald Trump said he would enforce tariffs on Mexican imports, with recent issues from the region losing ground.

Latin America bond bankers hope that more Mexican companies will look to sell new debt after Televisa clinched a tight price for its 30 year bond this week to wake up the country’s dormant primary market.

Mexican media company Televisa returned to dollar bond markets after a three and a half year hiatus on Tuesday and was able to increase the size of a planned trade despite offering minimal concession.

DCM bankers said they were sitting on mandates for Latin American bond issuers as another week of volatility in global markets kept the region’s primary markets quiet.

Mexican state-owned oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) was the highlight of a difficult start to the week for Latin American bonds. But though news of a new $8bn loan allowed it to outperform the market, analysts warned its troubles were far from over.

The US Federal Reserve’s more dovish than expected stance this year triggered the return of Latin America’s largest telecoms company to the dollar bond market after an eight year absence, the group’s chief financial officer told GlobalCapital.

Latin America’s largest telecoms company, América Móvil, sold dollar bonds for the first time in seven years on Monday, returning to refinance debt and establish two benchmarks.

Mexico timed its return to the European bond market on Monday extremely well, said DCM bankers, with risk-hungry investors allowing the sovereign to notch a €9bn book on the way to a dual-tranche deal.

Mexico timed its return to the European bond market on Monday extremely well, said DCM bankers, with risk-hungry investors allowing the sovereign to notch a €9bn book on the way to a dual-tranche deal.

Fitch has slashed the rating of Mexican textiles company Kaltex by three notches to CC, warning that the issuer could soon look to restructure its $320m senior unsecured notes maturing in April 2022.

Fitch Ratings slashed the rating of Mexican textiles company Kaltex by three notches to CC on Monday, warning that the issuer could soon look to restructure its $320m senior unsecured notes maturing in April 2022.