Moody's downgrades MISC
Moody's Investors Service has downgraded MISC Berhad due to the Malaysian shipowner's prolonged weakness in credit metrics, operating losses and large capital expenditure plans, Seatrade Asia reported.
Moody's on Tuesday downgraded the issuer and senior unsecured ratings of MISC from A3 to Baa1 that is expected to affect approximately $700m of the company's debt.
“The petroleum, chemical and liner segments are not expected to break even in the near term due to the challenging nature of the operating environment. MISC's strategy to minimize losses and volatility - through growing the contracted versus spot revenue mix for its petroleum and chemical segments, and the rationalization of its poor-performing liner trade routes - is unlikely to be sufficient to offset the negative dynamics of the market,” said Simon Wong, Moody's vice president and senior analyst.
Moody's added that an upward rating pressure is unlikely, given the challenging conditions in the shipping market and the losses in MISC's petroleum, chemical and liner segments.
Moody's on Tuesday downgraded the issuer and senior unsecured ratings of MISC from A3 to Baa1 that is expected to affect approximately $700m of the company's debt.
“The petroleum, chemical and liner segments are not expected to break even in the near term due to the challenging nature of the operating environment. MISC's strategy to minimize losses and volatility - through growing the contracted versus spot revenue mix for its petroleum and chemical segments, and the rationalization of its poor-performing liner trade routes - is unlikely to be sufficient to offset the negative dynamics of the market,” said Simon Wong, Moody's vice president and senior analyst.
Moody's added that an upward rating pressure is unlikely, given the challenging conditions in the shipping market and the losses in MISC's petroleum, chemical and liner segments.