Moody's downgrades Anheuser-Busch

Moody's Investors Service said it downgraded the senior unsecured ratings of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV's and its affiliates to Baa1 from A3.

The prime-2 rating for short-term debt was affirmed.

The outlook is stable.

This concludes a review for downgrade that began in October, Moody's said.

The downgrades reflect an expectation that Anheuser-Busch's leverage will remain high for the next few years, the agency said.

Moody's said it expects free cash flow to improve due to the company's recent 50% dividend cut and the benefit of cost savings.

But the company's progress in reducing its high debt balance of more than $100 billion will still be slow, the agency said.

De-leveraging is behind original expectations due largely to foreign-currency fluctuations and underperformance of certain emerging economies, Moody's said.

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