Moody's may cut Honda Motor

Moody's Investors Service said it placed the Aa3 long-term issuer rating of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. and senior unsecured long-term ratings of its supported subsidiaries, American Honda Finance Corp., Honda Canada Finance Inc. and Honda Finance Co., Ltd. under review for possible downgrade. Honda's Prime-1 short-term rating will not be affected.

This downgrade review is based on Moody's concern that Honda's operating performance will be pressured given the current market environment and the increasingly worsening outlook for the global automotive markets for 2009, which could limit the company's ability to generate adequate profitability and cash flow, Moody's said.

The automotive market in every developed market is in recession - particularly since October 2008 - which the agency said it believes will persist through 2009 and beyond. Demand also is slowing, possibly declining, in some of the emerging markets, Moody's added.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.