AB InBev Cut by Moody's Amid Struggles to Trim Massive Debt Pile
- Beermaker’s debt rating is cut to lowest investment-grade tier
- Moody’s sees debt-cutting efforts behind schedule after merger
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Anheuser-Busch InBev NV’s credit rating was cut to the lowest tier of investment-grade by Moody’s Investors Service, which warned that the brewer is struggling to whittle its $100 billion debt load.
Moody’s lowered AB InBev’s senior unsecured debt ratings to Baa1 from A3, putting the world’s largest beermaker three steps from junk, the ratings firm said in a statement Monday. The brewer’s borrowings will remain high relative to its cash flow for the next few years -- even after it decided to slash dividend payouts to shareholders by half.