Ratings agencies warn of downgrade if Boeing strike drags on
BY Reuters | CORPORATE | 09/13/24 12:18 PM EDTBy Shivansh Tiwary
Sept 13 (Reuters) - Fitch and Moody's on Friday joined
S&P Global Ratings in warning that a prolonged strike at
Boeing's
"If the current strike lasts a week or two, it is unlikely to pressure the rating. However, an extended strike could have a meaningful operational and financial impact, increasing the risk of a downgrade," Fitch Ratings said.
Moody's warned of a downgrade if Boeing
Moody's currently rates the planemaker at "Baa3", while Fitch has "BBB-" rating - both a notch above the junk status.
More than 30,000 workers walked off the job at Boeing
CFO Brian West did not directly answer when asked if Boeing
"First of all, we want to prioritize the investment grade credit rating. And secondly, we want to allow the factory and the supply chain to stabilize. That last objective just got harder based on last night," he said at a conference organized by Morgan Stanley.
"We are perfectly comfortable to supplement our liquidity position to support these two objectives," West said.
The first labor strike at Boeing
Boeing's
S&P Global Ratings had said on Thursday an extended strike could delay the planemaker's recovery and hurt its overall rating.
Boeing's
Shares of the planemaker were down 4% in afternoon trading, touching over an 18-month low. (Reporting by Shivansh Tiwary and Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri, Shinjini Ganguli and Shilpi Majumdar)