Fitch to assign A to Boeing notes

Fitch Ratings said it expects to assign an A long-term rating to Boeing Co.’s proposed issuance of roughly $900 million of senior unsecured notes.

The notes will be issued in three parts, with maturities of 2020, 2022 and 2025.

Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes.

The outlook is stable.

The ratings cover about $9 billion of debt ($6.6 billion attributable to Boeing and $2.4 billion attributable to Boeing Capital Corp. Of the amount attributable to Boeing Capital, Fitch estimates that roughly $1.3 billion consists of debt originally issued by Boeing Capital and subsequently guaranteed by Boeing, with the remainder consisting of intercompany loans from Boeing to Boeing Capital.

Fitch said the debt ratings are supported by Boeing's competitive positions in the commercial aerospace and defense sectors, financial flexibility, liquidity position, access to capital markets, high barriers to entry in its key businesses and large backlog ($485 billion). Debt reduction has also supported the ratings, with Boeing paying down $3.3 billion of debt over the past three years.

The company has $1.1 billion of debt maturing in 2016, which Fitch expects the company will retire with cash.

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