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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, April 12, 2023, Vol. 24, No. 74

                           Headlines



A R G E N T I N A

ARGENTINA: Poverty Rises, Hurting Economy Before Election
GENNEIA SA: Fitch Affirms 'CCC-' Foreign & Local Currency IDRs


B E R M U D A

VALARIS LIMITED: Fitch Corrects April 3 Ratings Release


B R A Z I L

AMERICANAS SA: Reference Shareholders May Offer More Money
BRAZIL: Alleged Orange Juice Cartel Faces Class Action Suit
BRAZIL: Fitch Rates $2.25BB Senior Unsecured Bonds 'BB-'


D O M I N I C A N   R E P U B L I C

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Minimum Wage Not Enough to Cover Basic Basket


J A M A I C A

JAMAICA: MSMEs Welcome NCB's Quick Biz Express Loan Facility

                           - - - - -


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A R G E N T I N A
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ARGENTINA: Poverty Rises, Hurting Economy Before Election
---------------------------------------------------------
Buenos Aires Times reports that poverty in Argentina spiked as
inflation surged toward 100 percent, wiping out a year of gains and
adding pressure on the cash-strapped government to spend more on
social welfare before October's presidential election.

About 39.2 percent of Argentines were living in poverty in the
second half of last year, up from the previous level of 36.5
percent, according to government data published March 30, according
to Buenos Aires Times. It's below the peak seen during the pandemic
but a clear sign that inflation is taking a heavy toll on
Argentina's society and economy, which is seen entering a recession
this year, the report notes.

Historically high poverty levels will pressure President Alberto
Fernandez and his Peronist coalition to provide more welfare aid
before the election, the report relays.  That's a difficult task as
Argentina committed to lowering its fiscal deficit this year by
cutting spending as a crop drought is reducing exports and tax
revenue, the report notes.  The fiscal deficit is a key target in
Argentina's US$44.5-billion agreement with the International
Monetary Fund, the report discloses.

No matter which party wins the election, Argentina's worsening
social situation poses a major challenge for the next government
and its ability to pass tough-medicine economic measures, the
report says.  Investors expect the next administration to devalue
the currency, a step many analysts say is needed to make the
economy more competitive but would likely further impoverish the
country in the short-term via a spike of inflation, the report
relays.

More people entered poverty at the end of last year as the
government's political crisis supercharged already-high inflation
levels from 64 percent to 95 percent within six months, the report
discloses.  By this past February, inflation had reached 103
percent and economists anticipate it will continue climbing, the
report relays.  Wages for informal workers, who tend be poorer than
salaried payroll employees, were only up 65 percent by the end of
last year, meaning they lost significant buying power, the report
notes.

That trend showed up in Argentina's gross domestic product, which
contracted in the fourth quarter last year by the most since the
pandemic, according to recent official data.  The decline was
fuelled in part by a sharp drop in consumer spending, the report
relays.  Economists forecast that Argentina's economy will contract
three percent this year, the report notes.

Higher destitution also dispels the country's recovery from the
pandemic, the report relays.  While unemployment is at its lowest
since 2015, the majority of job gains are in low-wage sectors, such
as tourism and retail, the report notes.  In fact, nine out of 10
poor children in Argentina actually come from households with at
least one working adult, according to a report from UNICEF and
Buenos Aires-based non-profit La Poderosa, the report adds.

                       About Argentina

Argentina is a country located mostly in the southern half of South
America. Its capital is Buenos Aires. Alberto Angel Fernandez is
the current president of Argentina after winning the October 2019
general election. He succeeded Mauricio Macri in the position.

Argentina has the third largest economy in Latin America.  The
country's economy is an upper middle-income economy for fiscal year
2019, according to the World Bank. Historically, however, its
economic performance has been very uneven, with high economic
growth alternating with severe recessions, income maldistribution
and in the recent decades, increasing poverty.

Last March 25, 2022, Argentina finalized agreement with the IMF for
a new USD44 billion Extended Funding Facility (EFF) intended to
fund USD40 billion in looming repayments of the defunct Stand-By
Arrangement (SBA), with an extra USD4 billion in up-front net
financing. This has averted the risk of a default to the IMF
and is facilitating a parallel rescheduling of Paris Club debt.

S&P Global Ratings, on March 29, 2023, lowered its long-term
foreign currency sovereign credit rating on Argentina to 'CCC-'
from 'CCC+'. S&P also affirmed its 'C' short-term foreign currency
sovereign credit rating and its 'CCC-/C' local currency ratings on
Argentina. The outlook on the long-term ratings is negative. S&P
also lowered the transfer and convertibility assessment to 'CCC-'
from 'CCC+'.

The negative outlook on the long-term ratings reflects risks
surrounding pronounced economic imbalances and policy uncertainties
before and after the 2023 national elections. Divisions across the
political spectrum constrain the sovereign's ability to implement
timely changes in economic policy. Global capital markets are
closed to Argentina. In the local market, swaps are being deployed
to manage large maturities before placing debt through traditional
auctions. The central bank continues to play a key role as a
backstop for local debt management in the secondary market. The
ongoing severe drought has exacerbated pressures in the already
disrupted foreign exchange (FX) market.

Fitch Ratings, on the other hand, downgraded Argentina's Long-Term
Foreign Currency
Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'C' from 'CCC-', and has affirmed
the Long-Term Local Currency IDR at 'CCC-' on March 24, 2023.
Fitch's downgrade of Argentina's rating to 'C' from 'CCC-' follows
an executive decree that forces domestic public-sector entities
into operations involving their holdings of
sovereign debt securities, which would involve unilateral exchanges
and forced currency conversion that constitute default events under
Fitch's criteria. The 'C' rating reflects Fitch's view that
default
is thus imminent. Fitch said the rating would be downgraded to
'Restricted Default' (RD) upon execution of the exchanges.

Moody's Investors Service, in September 2022, affirmed Argentina's
Ca foreign-currency and local-currency long-term issuer and senior
unsecured ratings.  The outlook remains stable.  The decision to
affirm the Ca ratings balances Argentina's limited market access,
weak governance, and history of recurrent debt restructurings with
recent efforts to marshal fiscal and monetary measures to start
addressing underlying macroeconomic imbalances in the context of
the IMF program that was approved in 2022, according to Moody's.

DBRS, Inc. confirmed Argentina's Long-Term Foreign Currency Issuer
Rating at CCC and downgraded its Long-Term Local Currency Issuer
Rating to CCC from CCC (high) on March 3, 2023.

GENNEIA SA: Fitch Affirms 'CCC-' Foreign & Local Currency IDRs
--------------------------------------------------------------
Fitch Ratings has affirmed Genneia S.A.'s Long-Term Foreign and
Local Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) at 'CCC-'. In
addition, Fitch has affirmed Genneia's senior secured notes due
2027 at 'CCC'/'RR3'.

Like other Argentine utility peers, Genneia's 'CCC-' ratings are
linked to Argentina's sovereign ratings to reflect its exposure to
off-taker Compania Administradora del Mercado Mayorista Electrico
(CAMMESA). CAMMESA acts as a market agent on behalf of companies in
the electricity sector and relies heavily upon the Argentine
government for subsidies.

The 'CCC'/'RR3' ratings on the senior secured notes are based on
precedent in Argentina. Issuers launched direct debt exchanges
(DDEs) that did not result in a reduction in principal, and the
recoveries were above the implied recovery of 'RR3' (51% to 70%)
and the previous recovery rating of 'RR4' (31%-50%), corresponding
to the Group D category within which Argentina lies.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Heightened Counterparty Exposure: Genneia depends on payments from
CAMMESA, which acts as an agent on behalf of an association
representing agents of electricity generators, transmission,
distribution and large consumers or the wholesale market
participants. CAMMESA's payment delays to the electricity sector
ended 2022 at just over 70 days compared to the contractual 42
days.

This risk is mitigated in Argentina's Renewable Energy Auction
(RenovAR) program through Fondo Fiduciario para el Desarollo de
Energias Renovables (FODER), a national trust fund for renewable
energy, which is prefunded with one year of revenue. Payment days
for the FODER are 42 days, resulting in a consolidated payment lag
for Genneia of approximately 52 days. The company estimates 20% of
its consolidated EBITDA is backed by a World Bank guarantee and 50%
by FODER.

Fitch also notes that 300MW of renewable projects underway are
under the Renewable Energy Term Market (MATER) framework and will
supply energy to large industrial users, thus reducing Genneia's
exposure to CAMMESA's non-guaranteed PPAs.

Uncertain Regulatory Environment: The electricity market remains a
priority of the Argentine government. Further regulatory reform is
highly probable to reduce costs and prevent the system from
becoming insolvent. Fitch estimates the government transferred
USD8.4 billion in funds to CAMMESA in 2022, which represented 65%
of the total implied cost of the system of USD12.9 billion. Fitch
expects the portion of the system that is subsidized will remain
elevated in spite of increased tariffs in the Buenos Aires region
and Argentina's IMF agreement goal for electricity subsidies to be
1.7% of GDP, down from 2.3%.

Dominant Player in Renewables: Although Genneia is considered a
relatively small player in the Argentine power generation industry,
the company is the leading wind power generation provider in the
country, with approximately 20% of the country's wind and solar
installed capacity as of 2022. The company added 166MW (Chubut
Norte II, III and IV) of wind capacity in 2021, and Fitch expects
that renewables, including wind and solar, will constitute 83% of
the company's revenue and 82% of its EBITDA in 2023.

Predictable Operating Cash Flow: Genneia's cash flow generation is
relatively stable and predictable. Almost all of the company's
revenue is related to sales to the wholesale electricity market
under contracts signed under RenovAR, the Renewable Energy
Generation Program, known as GENREN, and Resolution No. 21/16.

The company benefits from USD-denominated power purchase agreements
(PPAs) expiring in 2027 for its thermal capacity and between 2027
and 2041 for renewables. Genneia's renewable asset PPAs have an
average life of 15 years and account for roughly 90% of the
company's EBITDA. All of Genneia's PPAs (renewable and
conventional) have an average life of 13 years, including Sierras
de Ullum, which reached full COD at the end of March 2023. These
PPAs support the company's cash flow stability and predictability
through U.S. dollar-denominated long-term variable payments and
renewables priority dispatch.

Strong EBITDA Margins: Fitch expects the company's EBITDA to be
USD256 million in 2023, 82% of which will be from renewables. The
company's EBITDA margins remained solid in 2022 at 71%, but below
the 83% reached in both 2020 and 2021. Fitch expects EBITDA margins
to remain in the 70%-73% range over the 2023 to 2026 period.
Genneia has relatively fixed and stable operating costs and does
not need to acquire fuel. The company has solar expansion plans for
2023 and 2024 and wind expansion plans in 2024. However, no PPA or
regulatory changes are anticipated until 2027.

Improving Credit Metrics: Fitch expects Genneia's leverage to tick
up to 4.0x in 2023, and then decline annually thereafter through
2026. The company's leverage peaked in 2018 at 6.1x to finance the
addition of 500MW of renewable energy capacity between 2017 and
2020, with an additional 166MW of new wind capacity in 2021. Fitch
estimates Genneia will be FCF positive starting in 2024 after its
imminent expansion capex has concluded.

DERIVATION SUMMARY

Genneia's Long-Term Foreign and Local Currency IDRs reflect the
company's exposure to CAMMESA as an offtaker, which is reliant on
subsidies from the Argentine government. This is similar for
Argentine utility and energy peers Pampa Energia S.A. (B-), Capex
S.A. (CCC+) and AES Argentina Generacion S.A. (CCC-). Genneia is
the leading wind power generation provider in the country, in the
midst of completing an aggressive expansion plan in renewables.

Pampa has a more diversified business profile as a leading company
in electricity generation, distribution, transmission, gas
production and transportation. While capex has an advantageous
vertical integration in the thermoelectric generation, with the
flexibility of having its own natural gas reserves to supply its
plants.

In term of credit metrics, Genneia's gross leverage as of Dec. 31,
2022 was 3.8x, compared with Pampa at 1.6x, AES Argentina
Generacion at 2.7x, Capex at 1.7x, Generacion Mediterranea S.A.
(CCC-) at 5.6x, and MSU Energy S.A. (CCC-) at 5.1x. On a net basis,
Genneia's leverage was 3.0x in 2022, reflecting USD149 million of
cash and equivalents. Fitch estimates that Genneia's projected
gross leverage will average 2.6x over the rating horizon, slightly
below its Argentine peers' median of 3.0x.

KEY ASSUMPTIONS

- Thermal power purchase agreements (PPAs) awarded under Resolution
220/2007 expire with no renewal;

- Average thermal plant availability of 93% and load factor of 10%
over the rating horizon;

- Wind availability of 98% and load factor of 43%;

- Solar availability of 100% and load factor of 25%;

- Further solar capacity expansion in 2023 and 2024, with Sierras
de Ullum reaching full COD in March of 2023; further wind capacity
expansion in 2024;

- USD223 million new debt issuance in 2023 to fund planned capex
(USD85 million loan already secured);

- Payments received from CAMMESA within 80 days;

- Average monomic price of USD105.8/MWh for thermal power plants in
2023, and of roughly USD100/MWh thereafter;

- Average price of USD72/MWh in 2023 and thereafter for
renewables.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to positive
rating action/upgrade:

- An upgrade to the ratings of Argentina;

- Given the company's high dependence on payments from CAMMESA, any
further regulatory developments leading to a more independent
market--less reliant on support from the Argentine government--that
positively impacts the company's collections/cash flows.

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to negative
rating action/downgrade:

- A downgrade of Genneia below 'CCC-' could occur if Fitch's
believes that a default of some kind is probable or a default or
default-like process has begun. This would be represented by a 'CC'
or 'C' rating, given that Genneia's ratings are linked to those of
the Argentine sovereign at 'CCC', due to the high reliance on
government subsidies to the electricity sector.

LIQUIDITY AND DEBT STRUCTURE

Adequate Liquidity: Cash and short-term investments amounted to
approximately USD149 million as of YE 2022, equivalent to 2.7x the
interest expense. Approximately USD42 million of that amount was
held at unrestricted subsidiaries. The unrestricted subsidies have
non-recourse debt and their cash may not be available to service
the company's corporate debt.

Fitch expects the company will be able to comply with the central
bank capital controls limiting corporates' access to the foreign
exchange market.

As of December 2022, Genneia had gross leverage of 3.8x.
Historically, Genneia has had strong access to financing in
Argentina, given the company's relationship with local banks, as
well as international financing from export credit agencies and
development finance institutions. The company continues to comply
with the central bank's capital controls limiting corporates'
access to the foreign exchange market. The rules were extended
through the end of 2023, and Genneia has already secured an USD85
million loan agreement with two foreign financial development banks
and an additional USD73 million in green bonds for the construction
of the La Elbita wind and Tocota solar farms.

ISSUER PROFILE

Genneia S.A. is an Argentine power company, primarily engaged in
the generation of electrical power from both renewable (wind and
solar) and conventional (thermal) sources and is the leading wind
power generation company in Argentina in terms of installed
capacity.

ESG CONSIDERATIONS

Unless otherwise disclosed in this section, the highest level of
ESG credit relevance is a score of '3'. This 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.

   Entity/Debt               Rating          Recovery   Prior
   -----------               ------          --------   -----
Genneia S.A.        LT IDR    CCC- Affirmed              CCC-
                    LC LT IDR CCC- Affirmed              CCC-

   senior secured   LT        CCC  Affirmed     RR3      CCC



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B E R M U D A
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VALARIS LIMITED: Fitch Corrects April 3 Ratings Release
-------------------------------------------------------
This is a correction of a rating action commentary published on
April 3, 2023. It adds Valaris Finance Company LLC as the second
lien notes co-issuer and updates the notes amount to $700 million
from $600 million to reflect the upsizing of principal.

Fitch Ratings has assigned a 'B+' first-time Long-Term Issuer
Default Rating (IDR) to Valaris Limited. The Rating Outlook is
Stable. In addition, Fitch has assigned a 'BB-'/'RR3' rating to the
$700 million second lien secured notes co-issued by Valaris Limited
and Valaris Finance Company LLC, Valaris's FinCo. The proceeds will
be used to repay all of the existing debt and for other general
corporate purposes.

Valaris' ratings reflect the expected sharp decline in leverage in
2024 as the currently strong floating drilling rig day rates feed
into the company's next year's contract prices. Valaris' credit
profile benefits from one of the largest fleets of offshore jackups
and floaters, short-term revenue visibility due to presence of
contracts with minimum prices and volumes, and healthy liquidity.

Valaris' profile is negatively affected by high volatility in day
rates and rig utilization combined with asset-heavy business model
and high operating leverage, which together result in considerable
swings in EBITDA depending on the industry cycle. Valaris completed
a debt restructuring in April 2021, dramatically reducing its gross
debt.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Leader in Offshore Drilling: Valaris owns 16 floating rigs,
including 11 drillships and five semisubmersible rigs, and 36
jackups. Its offshore drilling fleet is the largest globally by
number of rigs. Valaris operates in all major offshore oil and gas
basins, such as the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil, Middle East, West
Africa, the North Sea, Southeast Asia and Australia. In late
February 2023, the company had a $2.5 billion contract backlog, up
from $2.4 billion as of February 2022 and $1.0 billion at end-2020.
Valaris expects to convert around 54% of February 2023 backlog into
revenue in 2023 and 35% in 2024.

Rebound in Floater Market: As long-term forward oil prices started
to increase in 2021, market day rates for floaters began growing at
a fast pace and almost doubled between end-2020 and end-2022.
Floater utilization has also been improving. Fitch does not assume
any significant growth in market day rates in 2H23-2H24 and expects
rates to decline in 2025 based on its oil price deck. The number of
contracted floaters has been largely stagnant worldwide in
2017-2022, and Fitch expects this number to increase in 2023-2024.

Stacked floater rigs number peaked in early 2017 after oil prices
collapsed in 2014. More than half of stacked rigs as of early 2017
exited the market by end-2022. Six of Valaris' 16 floaters are
currently stacked, and this share of stacked rigs is roughly in
line with total market numbers.

Jackup Fleet Improves Stability: Valaris' jackup business enhances
stability of its cashflows. Jackup day rates are not as volatile as
those for floating rigs and global jackup utilization fell less
dramatically than floaters utilization in 2017. The higher
resilience of the jackup market is underpinned by shorter payback
for shallower offshore upstream projects. Valaris generated most of
its EBITDA from jackup segment in 2022. Fitch expects this share
will decrease in 2023-2026 as the company's floaters move away from
lower legacy day rates. Valaris also benefits from stability of its
other businesses, including bareboat charters to its JV with Saudi
Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco; A/Positive) and rig management
services.

Envisaged Decline in Leverage: Valaris' rating is based on a sharp
reduction in its gross leverage that Fitch forecasts in 2024.
Valaris exited chapter 11 restructuring in April 2021, eliminating
$7.1 billion of pre-petition debt and raising a $550 bond. However,
its EBITDA leverage was 6.7x at end-2021 and 3.7x at end-2022 due
to subdued EBITDA generation driven by muted demand for offshore
drilling services over the last several years leading to
oversupplied market.

Fitch projects Valaris' EBITDA to improve to approximately $200
million in 2023 from $147 million in 2022 and reach approximately
$500 million in 2024 as Valaris starts realizing higher day rates
on the 2023 contracts from rig reactivations and active rig
contract rollovers. EBIDTA leverage is expected to decline to 3.1x
in 2023 and 1.1x in 2024 given that Fitch projects a stable gross
debt amount. Fitch expects that the company's EBITDA will start
declining in 2025 based on falling oil price assumptions.

Capex, Reactivations Weigh on FCF: Fitch expects Valaris will boost
capex to accommodate strengthening demand for offshore drilling
services. Fitch projects its annual capex including a purchase of
one new build drillship to average roughly $400 million in
2023-2024, doubling the size of 2022 capex. These numbers also
assume several rig reactivations. Valaris aims to reactivate
floaters when it can secure a contract that provides a sufficient
return on reactivation costs. Part of the reactivation costs is
subtracted from its EBITDA. As a result of elevated capex and
reactivation costs, Fitch forecasts Valaris's FCF to remain
negative until 2026.

No Dividends, Limited Buybacks: Fitch does not project any
dividends to be paid by Valaris in the medium term. The company has
an approved $100 million share buyback program and Fitch assumes it
will be fully executed in 2023. Fitch does not expect Valaris to
pay any significant dividends until its key markets recover
sustainably.

Growing JV with Aramco: Valaris has a 50% stake in an equity
method-accounted JV with Saudi Aramco called ARO. ARO is an
offshore drilling company that has contracts with Aramco. Fitch
expects ARO to be in an expansionary stage in 2023-2027 and does
not expect any dividends from it. At the same time, Fitch expects
the company to fund its capex through FCF generation and standalone
debt without any cash calls from the partners. Valaris has $0.4
billion notes receivable from ARO due 2027 and 2028. Fitch does not
forecast notes principal repayment in 2023-2026, but expects the
company to receive $25 million-$30 million of annual interest.

Bond Recoveries: The $700 million notes' 'BB-'/'RR3' rating is one
notch above Valaris's IDR. This is based on substantially better
recovery prospects for the notes than what was achieved by the
unsecured bondholders during the bankruptcy two years ago. The
rating for the new notes assumes significantly lower total drawn
debt consisting of the fully drawn $375 million RCF and the $700
million notes.

DERIVATION SUMMARY

Valaris's peers include Noble Corporation plc, Precision Drilling
Corporation (B+/Stable), KCA Deutag Alpha Limited (B+/Stable), CGG
SA (B-/Positive) and Nabors Industries, Ltd. (B-/Stable). Valaris
is similar in scale to Noble, but experiences lower margins due to
its current contract structure and higher concentration of jackups.
Noble is expected to generate more consistent FCF than Valaris
given the recent recovery and higher margin profile for floaters,
which results in modestly lower leverage, especially in the near
term.

Fitch expects Precision and KCA Deutag to generate significantly
lower revenue than Valaris and have comparable EBITDA margins in
2024-2025. Their leverage is projected to be higher, but they are
involved in the onshore drilling segment, which is more stable than
the offshore one.

Nabors has modestly larger scale than Valaris and a more
diversified and less volatile cash flow profile. Gross debt and
leverage are higher than Valaris and Nabors is subject to
meaningful near- and medium-term refinancing risks. CGG, an
offshore seismic data processing and equipment manufacturing
company, is also exposed to the volatile offshore oilfield services
market and also completed a debt restructuring in 2018. It has
higher maintenance capex requirements than Valaris and higher
expected leverage.

KEY ASSUMPTIONS

- Brent oil prices of $85/bbl in 2023, $75/bbl in 2024, $65/bbl in
2025 and $53/bbl thereafter;

- Revenue growth of 15% in 2023, 30% in 2024 followed by declines
thereafter;

- EBITDA margins growing to 10% in 2023 and into the low 20% range
in 2024-2025 while decreasing thereafter;

- Capex, including newbuilds, averaging $400 million in 2023-2025
and falling toward $150 million thereafter;

- Stock buybacks of $100 million in 2023 and no dividends paid.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to positive
rating action/upgrade:

- Sustainably stronger offshore drilling market fundamentals,
including high day rates, longer contracts and growing backlog and
rig utilization;

- Track record of conservative financial policy that keeps gross
debt in check;

- Midcycle EBITDA leverage below 2.0x.

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to negative
rating action/downgrade:

- Deteriorating market fundamentals such as decreasing day rates
and offshore rig utilization;

- Significant increase in gross debt;

- Weakening liquidity;

- Midcycle EBITDA leverage above 3.0x.

LIQUIDITY AND DEBT STRUCTURE

Sufficient Liquidity: Valaris pushed its debt maturity from 2028 to
2030 with the bond refinancing. The company's combined negative
FCF, including capex and working capital cash outflows, will reach
$400 million in 2023-2025, according to projections. This can be
covered by $724 million of cash at end-2022 and the $375 million
long-term committed RCF. Valaris should have sufficient liquidity
if it maintains a disciplined approach to discretionary cash
spending.

KEY RECOVERY RATING ASSUMPTIONS

- The recovery analysis assumes Valaris would be reorganized as a
going-concern (GC) in bankruptcy rather than liquidated;

- Fitch has assumed a 10% administrative claim.

Going-Concern Approach

Valaris' GC EBITDA estimate reflects Fitch's view of a sustainable,
post-reorganization EBITDA level, upon which the agency bases the
enterprise valuation. The GC EBITDA assumption for commodity price
sensitive issuers at a cyclical peak reflects the industry's move
from top of the cycle commodity prices to mid-cycle conditions and
intensifying competitive dynamics.

The GC EBITDA assumption of $155 million equals EBITDA estimates
for the mid-point between a distress year and near-term EBITDA
expectations. This represents an emergence from a prolonged
commodity price decline. Fitch stress case assumes for Brent oil
prices are $45/b in 2023, $35/b in 2024, $45/b in 2025 and $48/b
for the long term. These prices could lead to a marked difference
in the company's cash flow generation given the impact a period of
prolonged oil prices could have for day rates and rig utilization.

The GC EBITDA assumption reflects a loss of customers and lower
margins than the near-term forecast, as E&P companies cut their
costs. The EBITDA assumption also incorporates weak offshore
drilling market fundamentals and Valaris' charters to Aramco, as
well as overall high rig supply, but improving demand.

The assumption reflects the material decrease in the company's
liabilities as well as the material write down in the value of the
company's PP&E following the company's debt restructuring. Valaris
eliminated $7.1 billion of pre-petition debt from its balance sheet
after exiting bankruptcy procedures in 2021. During the
restructuring process, the company also wrote down the book value
of its PP&E from $10 billion to approximately $900 million.

An enterprise value multiple of 5.0x EBITDA is applied to GC EBITDA
to calculate a post-reorganization enterprise value. The choice of
this multiple considered the following factors:

The historical bankruptcy case study exit multiples for peer energy
oilfield service companies have a wide range with a median of 6.1x.
The oil field service sub-sector ranges from 2.2x to 42.5x due to
the more volatile nature of EBITDA swings in a downturn.

Fitch used a multiple of 5.0x to estimate the enterprise value of
Valaris due to concerns of a downturn with a longer duration, a
high exposure to offshore drilling rigs that can see meaningful
volatility in demand and continued capital investment to reactive
rigs.

Fitch also assumed a $50 million value from its equity stake in ARO
and notes payable to Valaris by ARO.

Liquidation Approach

The liquidation estimate reflects Fitch's view of the value of
balance sheet assets that can be realized in sale or liquidation
processes conducted during a bankruptcy or insolvency proceeding
and distributed to creditors.

Fitch assigns standard discounts to the liquidation value of the
company's сash, accounts receivable, and inventory. Fitch is using
a 30% liquidation value to the company's book value given the high
uncertainty of assets valuations during a downturn.

The $375 million first lien secured RCF is assumed to be fully
drawn upon default and is the most senior in the waterfall.

The allocation of value in the liability waterfall results in
recovery corresponding to a recovery rating of 'RR3' for $700
million second lien secured debt issuance.

ISSUER PROFILE

Valaris provides offshore drilling services to oil and gas
companies across the globe. It owns the world's largest fleet of
offshore rigs, including jackups and floaters. Valaris is
incorporated in Bermuda and headquartered in the U.S.

ESG CONSIDERATIONS

ESG CONSIDERATIONS

Valaris has an ESG Relevance Score of '4' for Waste & Hazardous
Materials Management; Ecological Impacts due to the risk that a
possible offshore oil spill may affect the drilling company. This
factor has a negative impact on the credit profile, and are
relevant to the ratings in conjunction with other factors.

Unless otherwise disclosed in this section, the highest level of
ESG credit relevance is a score of '3'. This 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.

   Entity/Debt              Rating           Recovery   
   -----------              ------           --------   
Valaris Limited       LT IDR B+  New Rating

   Senior Secured
   2nd Lien           LT     BB- New Rating     RR3

Valaris Finance
Company LLC

   Senior Secured
   2nd Lien           LT     BB- New Rating     RR3



===========
B R A Z I L
===========

AMERICANAS SA: Reference Shareholders May Offer More Money
----------------------------------------------------------
Reuters reports that Brazilian retailer Americanas (AMER3.SA) said
April 3, 2023, its reference shareholders have signaled with the
possibility of injecting more money into the company as it looks
for a deal to settle its debts.

The company, which counts the billionaire trio that founded 3G
Capital as reference shareholders, said in a securities filing it
was holding periodic meetings with creditors, although no
agreement had been reached yet.

Americanas, which entered bankruptcy protection earlier this year
after uncovering roughly $4 billion in "accounting
inconsistencies", said the trio's most recent proposal to
creditors totaled as much as 12 billion reais ($2.38 billion).

The offer included two potential additional capital increases of up

to 1 billion reais each, on top of a short-term injection of 10
billion reais in cash already proposed by reference shareholders
Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Herrmann Telles and Carlos Alberto
Sicupira.

"The two additional capital increases may be triggered if the
company is, on future dates to be agreed, above certain maximum
leverage limits or below a minimum liquidity level, both to be
detailed in due course," Americanas said.

"The company remains committed to negotiating these terms with its
financial creditors," it added, noting the offer followed a
"commitment" of the billionaire trio to capitalize the company.

                       About Americanas SA

Americanas was one of the largest diversified retail chains in
Brazil, with a wide platform of physical stores, robust e-commerce,
fintech, and has just entered into the niche food retail.  It is
listed on B3, being indirectly controlled by billionaire Jorge
Paulo Lemann, Carlos Alberto Sicupira and Marcel Telles.

The retailer nosedived in January 2023 after becoming mired in an
accounting scandal.  The firm filed for bankruptcy at a court in
Rio de Janeiro on Jan. 19, 2023.

Americanas sought protection under Chapter 15 of the U.S.
Bankruptcy Code (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Case No. 23-10092) on Jan. 25,
2023.  White & Case LLP, led by John K. Cunningham, is the U.S.
counsel.


BRAZIL: Alleged Orange Juice Cartel Faces Class Action Suit
-----------------------------------------------------------
Rio Times Online reports that giants of Brazil's orange juice trade
are defendants in a class action lawsuit seeking billions in
damages for alleged price fixing between 1999 and 2006.

The report, citing Reuters, reports that federal prosecutor Karen
Kahn said the Sao Paulo Court of Justice would hear the lawsuits
against companies such as Citrosuco, Cutrale, and Louis Dreyfus Co
(LDC), which account for most of the world's orange juice
production.

The alleged cartel harmed citrus producers and was investigated by
Brazil's antitrust agency, Cade, the report notes.

In 2016, the regulator and the companies agreed to pay BRL301
million to settle, the report recalls.

                              About Brazil

Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world and third largest
in the Americas. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won the 2022
Brazilian general election. He was sworn in on January 1, 2023, as
the 39th president of Brazil, succeeding Jair Bolsonaro.

As recently reported in the Troubled Company Reporter-Latin
America, Fitch Ratings, in December 2022, affirmed Brazil's
Long-Term Foreign Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'BB-'
with a Stable Outlook. The ratings are constrained by high
government indebtedness, a rigid fiscal structure, weak economic
growth potential, and a record of governability challenges that
have hampered efforts to address these fiscal and economic issues
and clouded policy predictability. The Stable Outlook reflects
Fitch's expectation that growth will slow in the coming year and
that recent fiscal improvement will erode under a new government,
but within a margin consistent with the current rating, and from a
better starting point than previously expected. Uncertainty is
elevated regarding the plans of the incoming government and the
extent to which these could ease or aggravate fiscal and economic
challenges. However, Fitch does not expect policies that
jeopardize broad economic stability.

Standard & Poor's affirmed its 'BB-/B' long- and short-term
foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Brazil, and
the outlook remains stable (June 2022).  The stable outlook
reflects S&P's base-case assumption that Brazil will maintain its
fiscal anchors over the next two years despite an increasing
interest burden, preventing significant fiscal slippage and
limiting the rise in its already high debt burden.

Moody's credit rating for Brazil was last set at Ba2 in 2018 with
stable outlook.  Moody's affirmed the Ba2 issuer ratings and
senior unsecured bond ratings in April 2022.

DBRS's credit rating for Brazil is BB (low) with stable outlook
(March 2018).

BRAZIL: Fitch Rates $2.25BB Senior Unsecured Bonds 'BB-'
--------------------------------------------------------
Fitch Ratings has assigned a 'BB-' rating to Brazil's USD2.25
billion bond maturing Oct. 20, 2033 with a coupon of 6.0%.

Proceeds from the issuance will be used for general budgetary
purposes.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

The bonds' ratings are in line with Brazil's Long-Term Foreign
Currency Issuer Default Rating (LT FC IDR) of 'BB-'.

On Dec. 20, 2022, Fitch affirmed Brazil's Long-Term Foreign
Currency IDR at 'BB-' with a Stable Rating Outlook.

ESG - Governance: Brazil has an ESG Relevance Score (RS) of '5' for
both Political Stability and Rights and for the Rule of Law,
Institutional and Regulatory Quality and Control of Corruption.
Theses scores reflect the high weight that the World Bank
Governance Indicators (WBGI) have in Fitch's proprietary Sovereign
Rating Model. Brazil has a medium WBGI ranking at the 41st
percentile, reflecting a track record of political tensions but
peaceful political transitions, a moderate level of rights for
participation in the political process, moderate institutional
capacity, moderate rule of law, and a high level of corruption.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to negative
rating action/downgrade:

- The ratings would be sensitive to any negative changes in
Brazil's Long-Term Foreign Currency IDR.

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to positive
rating action/upgrade:

- The ratings would be sensitive to any positive changes in
Brazil's Long-Term Foreign Currency IDR.

ESG CONSIDERATIONS

Brazil has an ESG Relevance Score of '5' for Political Stability
and Rights as WBGIs have the highest weight in Fitch's SRM and a
highly fragmented congress has made timely passage of corrective
policy adjustments difficult; this is highly relevant to the rating
and a key rating driver with a high weight. As Brazil has a
percentile rank below 50 for the respective Governance Indicator,
this has a negative impact on the credit profile.

Brazil has an ESG Relevance Score of '5' for Rule of Law,
Institutional & Regulatory Quality and Control of Corruption as
WBGIs have the highest weight in Fitch's SRM and the corruption
related issues exposed in recent years have severely hit political
dynamics and economic activity; this is highly relevant to the
rating and a key rating driver with a high weight. As Brazil has a
percentile rank below 50 for the respective Governance Indicators,
this has a negative impact on the credit profile.

Brazil has an ESG Relevance Score of '4' [+] for Human Rights and
Political Freedoms as the Voice and Accountability pillar of the
WBGIs is relevant to the rating and a rating driver. As Brazil has
a percentile rank above 50 for the respective Governance Indicator,
this has a positive impact on the credit profile.

Brazil has an ESG Relevance Score of '4' [+] for Creditor Rights as
willingness to service and repay debt is relevant to the rating and
is a rating driver for Brazil, as for all sovereigns. As Brazil has
track record of 20+ years without a restructuring of public debt
and captured in Fitch's SRM variable, this has a positive impact on
the credit profile.

Except for the matters discussed above, the highest level of ESG
credit relevance, if present, is a score of '3'. This means ESG
issues are credit-neutral or have only a minimal credit impact on
the entity(ies), either due to their nature or to the way in which
they are being managed by the entity(ies).

   Entity/Debt         Rating        
   -----------         ------       
Brazil

   senior
   unsecured        LT BB-  New Rating



===================================
D O M I N I C A N   R E P U B L I C
===================================

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Minimum Wage Not Enough to Cover Basic Basket
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Dominican Today reports that the national cost of the average basic
family basket in the Dominican Republic has increased by 6.5% in
the past year, according to the Dominican Central Bank (BC).

This means that the cost of the basket has gone up from RD$40,547
in January 2022 to RD$43,210 at the end of December 2022, according
to Dominican Today.  In February 2023, the cost further increased
to RD$43,531, indicating a 7.3% increase compared to the previous
year, the report notes.

The lowest basket, or "quintile 1", increased by 8.1%, meaning that
Dominicans now have to seek RD$2,662 more to pay for this item,
which went from RD$23,969 in January 2022 to RD$25,928 in February
2023, the report relays.

Despite the increase in the minimum wage for some workers, such as
those in large companies, they will still not be able to fully
cover the lowest basket, the report notes.  A worker with the new
highest minimum wage, which will be set at RD$24,150 as of April 1,
2023, will still lack RD$1,778 to cover the lowest basket, the
report discloses.  With the withholdings required by law, the
worker will earn around RD$22,722, so they would have to look for
more than RD$3,200 to be supplied from the lowest basket that the
Dominican economy has, the report says.

The other quintiles of the basic basket have also increased in the
last 14 months, ranging from a 6.4% increase in the "quintile 5" to
an 8.1% increase in "quintile 1," the report adds.

                   About Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a Caribbean nation that shares the island
of Hispaniola with Haiti to the west. Capital city Santo Domingo
has Spanish landmarks like the Gothic Catedral Primada de America
dating back 5 centuries in its Zona Colonial district. Luis Rodolfo
Abinader Corona is the current president of the nation.

TCRLA reported in April 2019 that the Dominican To related that
Juan Del Rosario of the UASD Economic Faculty cited a current
economic slowdown for the Dominican Republic and cautioned that if
the trend continues, growth would reach only 4% by 2023. Mr. Del
Rosario said that if that happens, "we'll face difficulties in
meeting international commitments."

An ongoing concern in the Dominican Republic is the inability of
participants in the electricity sector to establish financial
viability for the system.

Fitch Ratings, in December 2021, revised the Outlook on Dominican
Republic's Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR)
to Stable from Negative and affirmed the IDRs at 'BB-'.The
revision of the Outlook to Stable reflects the narrowing of
Dominican Republic's government deficit and financing needs since
Fitch's last review resulting in the stabilization of the
government debt/GDP ratio, as well as the investment-driven
economic momentum, reflected in the faster-than-expected economic
recovery in 2021 that Fitch expects to carry into above-potential
GDP growth during 2022 and 2023.

Standard & Poor's, also in December 2021, revised its outlook on
the Dominican Republic to stable from negative.S&P also
affirmed its 'BB-' long-term foreign and local currency sovereign
credit ratings and its 'B' short-term sovereign credit ratings. The
stable outlook reflects S&P's expectation of continued favorable
GDP growth and policy continuity over the next 12 to 18 months that
will likely stabilize the government's debt burden, despite lack of
progress with broader tax reforms, S&P said.A rapid economic
recovery from the downturn because of the pandemic should mitigate
external and fiscal risks.

Moody's affirmed the Dominican Republic's long-term issuer and
senior unsecured ratings at Ba3 and maintained the stable outlook
in March 2021.




=============
J A M A I C A
=============

JAMAICA: MSMEs Welcome NCB's Quick Biz Express Loan Facility
------------------------------------------------------------
RJR News reports that Small and Medium Sized Enterprises are
looking for more avenues that provide easier access to financing.

According to Donovan Wignall, President of the MSME Alliance, it
has always been challenging for small businesses to get loans of
any size from financial institutions, the report notes.

Mr. Wignal has however lauded the National Commercial Bank on its
recently launched Quick Biz Express facility, which allows
pre-approved small and medium enterprises to access loans online,
according to RJR News.

Through this facility, once SMEs meet all the requirements for
financing, they will be pre-approved for loans valued at $100,000
to $2.5 million, the report adds.

As reported in the Troubled Company Reporter-Latin America in March
2022, Fitch Ratings has affirmed Jamaica's Long-Term Foreign
Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'B+'. The Rating Outlook is
Stable.



                           *********


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

Troubled Company Reporter-Latin America is a daily newsletter
co-published by Bankruptcy Creditors' Service, Inc., Fairless
Hills, Pennsylvania, USA, and Beard Group, Inc., Washington, D.C.,
USA, Marites O. Claro, Joy A. Agravante, Rousel Elaine T.
Fernandez, Julie Anne L. Toledo, Ivy B. Magdadaro, and Peter A.
Chapman, Editors.

Copyright 2023.  All rights reserved.  ISSN 1529-2746.

This material is copyrighted and any commercial use, resale or
publication in any form (including e-mail forwarding, electronic
re-mailing and photocopying) is strictly prohibited without prior
written permission of the publishers.

Information contained herein is obtained from sources believed to
be reliable, but is not guaranteed.

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delivered via e-mail.  Additional e-mail subscriptions for members
of the same firm for the term of the initial subscription or
balance thereof are US$25 each.  For subscription information,
contact Peter A. Chapman at 215-945-7000.
.


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