OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings has assigned Chinese consumer appliance producer Midea Group Co., Ltd. (Midea) a Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of 'A-' and a senior unsecured rating of 'A-'. The Outlook for the IDR is Stable.

Midea's ratings are driven by the company's position as an innovative, leading Chinese consumer appliance maker, its good product and geographical diversification, its strong distribution and sales network, a positive long-term industry outlook in China and the company's strong financial metrics. It also takes into consideration of Midea's limited international brand value and the cyclicality of the industry.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Market Leading, Innovative Manufacturer: Midea is one of the largest consumer appliance manufacturers in China. It ranks among the top four in terms of sales value in most of the major appliances (including air conditioners, refrigerators and washing machines) and consistently ranks first in small appliances. The company's strong market share is mostly driven by its vast distribution network, well-known brand name, and its ability to introduce new products and features through extensive R&D.

Strong Distribution and Sales Network: Midea has an extensive distribution network with full coverage of the first- and second-tier markets and more than 95% coverage of the third- and fourth-tier markets. The company has a comprehensive marketing network of more than 15,000 stores and over 70,000 regional distributors, as well as long-term strategic relationships with large home appliance stores and online shopping platforms.

Fitch believes Midea's vast network allows the company to maximise its reach to customers online and offline. The company also has its own logistics business, and is establishing an integrated O2O (online to offline) business platform, which is an important strategy to succeed in the consumer appliance industry.

Positive Industry Outlook: Fitch expects sales in China's consumer appliance sector to register mid- to high-single-digit growth in the next few years, driven mostly by replacement demand and product upgrades as a result of higher disposable income, urbanisation and modernisation in the country. Sales of small appliances are likely to increase faster than major appliances, given their faster replacement cycles and much lower penetration rates. Midea, as a leading market player in the industry and dominant producer in the small appliance sector, is poised to benefit from the positive industry trend.

Geographical and Product Diversification: Midea has the widest range of product offerings in the world, covering both large and small appliances. The company also derives close to 40% of sales and over 30% of gross profit overseas. Apart from China, Midea also has production facilities in Vietnam, India, Egypt, Belarus, Argentina, Brazil and Chile, along with R&D centres in a number of countries including Japan, Italy and the U.S.

Net Cash, FCF Generation: Midea has been generating positive FCF since 2012 and has remained in a net cash position since 2013. Fitch does not expect this to change because of the company's ability to maintain stable margins and low capex. In 2014, Midea implemented a number of measures to improve profitability, including streamlining the product portfolio to eliminate low-margin products, increasing automation at its production facilities, introducing new higher-end products, and standardising component usage.

Limited End-Market Diversification: Midea sells its products primarily in China, which leaves it vulnerable to consumer cycles in the country. This constraint on its rating is partly offset by the sheer size of China's consumer appliance market, which accounts for about half of the global market, and the positive industry outlook.

Weak International Brand: Midea's presence internationally is much weaker than that in China. Its own branded products (including products marketed under Midea for export and Midea-owned brands) accounted for approximately 40% of its total overseas sales in 2014. Fitch considers this a constraint on the ratings. Brand recognition is an important measure of success for consumer appliance producers as strong brands are generally associated with product quality and promote customer loyalty, which are essential in maintaining market share and sales growth.

KEY ASSUMPTIONS

Fitch's key assumptions within our rating case for the issuer include:
- Slower sales growth for 2015-2016 at mid- to high-single-digits in each product segment due to continued destocking in the sector and slower economic growth
- Gradual improvement in margins due to streamlining of product portfolio, component standardisation and increasing focus on more value-added products with higher prices
- Capex spending to be around CNY4.0bn in 2015 and CNY3.5bn in 2016, followed by CNY3.0bn a year thereafter

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Positive: Future developments that may, individually or collectively, lead to positive rating action include:
- A strong international brand comparable with those of its global peers and increasing amount of sales generated from its own brand overseas
- Increased in market share without compromises in profit margins and financial profile

Negative: Future developments that may, individually or collectively, lead to negative rating action include:
- Sales growth that is weaker than that of the industry
- EBITDA margin sustained below 9% (2014: 10.8%)
- FCF margin sustained below 3% (2014: 13.1%).