Fitch Upgrades Ryerson's IDR to 'BB' and ABL to 'BBB-'; Outlook remains stable

CHICAGO, Feb. 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Ryerson Holding Corporation (NYSE: RYI), a leading value-added processor and distributor of industrial metals, announced today that Fitch Ratings has upgraded Ryerson Holdings Corporation’s (RYI) and Joseph T. Ryerson & Son, Inc.’s Long-Term Corporate Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) to ‘BB’ from ‘BB-‘. Fitch has also upgraded the first lien senior secured asset-based lending (ABL) credit facility to ‘BBB-/’RR1’ from ‘BB+’/’RR1’ which represents the first Investment Grade rating since Ryerson’s initial public offering in August 2014. The Rating Outlook is Stable.

Jim Claussen, Ryerson’s Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, stated “We are pleased that our upgraded rating from Fitch affirms Ryerson’s multi-year balance sheet transformation and improved ‘through-the-cycle’ operating profile. Ryerson’s significant deleveraging over the past several years will increasingly allow cash flow generated from our business model to be re-invested in the growth of our business and returns to shareholders.”

Safe Harbor Provision

Certain statements made in this presentation and other written or oral statements made by or on behalf of the Company constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding our future performance, as well as management’s expectations, beliefs, intentions, plans, estimates, objectives, or projections relating to the future. Such statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “objectives,” “goals,” “preliminary,” “range,” “believes,” “expects,” “may,” “estimates,” “will,” “should,” “plans,” or “anticipates” or the negative thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology, or by discussions of strategy. The Company cautions that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and may involve significant risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may vary materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Among the factors that significantly impact our business are: the cyclicality of our business; the highly competitive, volatile, and fragmented metals industry in which we operate; fluctuating metal prices; our substantial indebtedness and the covenants in instruments governing such indebtedness; the integration of acquired operations; regulatory and other operational risks associated with our operations located inside and outside of the United States; impacts and implications of adverse health events, including the COVID-19 pandemic; work stoppages; obligations under certain employee retirement benefit plans; the ownership of a majority of our equity securities by a single investor group; currency fluctuations; and consolidation in the metals industry. Forward-looking statements should, therefore, be considered in light of various factors, including those set forth above and those set forth under “Risk Factors” in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2022, and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Moreover, we caution against placing undue reliance on these statements, which speak only as of the date they were made. The Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances, new information or otherwise.

Legal Disclaimer

The contents herein are provided for general information purposes only and do not constitute an offer to sell or buy, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security (“Security”) of the Company or its affiliates (“Ryerson”) in any jurisdiction. Ryerson does not intend to solicit, and is not soliciting, any action with respect to any Security or any other contractual relationship with the Ryerson. Nothing in this release, individually or taken in the aggregate, constitutes an offer of securities for sale or buy, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any Security in the United States, or to U.S. persons, or in any other jurisdiction in which such an offer or solicitation is unlawful.

Ryerson is a leading value-added processor and distributor of industrial metals, with operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and China. Founded in 1842, Ryerson has around 4,000 employees in approximately 100 locations. Visit Ryerson at www.ryerson.com.

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