MEXICO CITY — Grupo Bimbo SAB de CV has announced the prepayment of $400 million of its committed revolving credit facility, which matures in October 2023.

The prepayment followed a March announcement that the company, with the coronavirus (COVID-19) rapidly spreading globally, had withdrawn $720 million of its credit facility, of which $200 million was to be used to pay down debt maturing this month, and the balance was designated for giving the company greater liquidity, flexibility and financial strength in the face of an “uncertain environment.”

“However, due to the strong results and solid cash flow generation, coupled with a less uncertain environment, Grupo Bimbo decided to prepay $400 million of its outstanding debt,” the company said.

Following the repayment, Bimbo has $1.7 billion available in its revolving credit facility.

In the first quarter ended March 31, Bimbo’s debt-to-EBITDA ratio was 2.8 times, up from 2.6 in the first quarter of 2019.

The company’s total debt as of March 31 was 120 billion pesos ($5 billion), which was up from 87 billion pesos at the end of December 2019. The 33-billion peso increase was attributable to the increased leverage from the $720 million withdrawal and to the depreciation of the Mexican peso. Average debt maturity as of March 31 was 12 years with an average cost of 5.4%. Long-term debt accounted for 94% of the company’s total debt, of which 63% was denominated in US dollars, 31% in Mexican pesos, 5% in Canadian dollars and 1% in Euros.