Moody's: Carpenter outlook stable

Moody's Investors Service said it affirmed Carpenter Technology Corp.'s Baa3 senior unsecured ratings and changed the outlook to stable from negative.

The outlook revision reflects the agency's view that the downward trend in Carpenter's earnings performance and volumes bottomed by its first quarter of 2010 (ended Sept. 30, 2009) and has subsequently stabilized. The stable outlook reflects Moody's expectation that performance will gradually improve in 2011, albeit slowly, as key markets for the company evidence positive trends.

Carpenter's Baa3 rating reflects its position in the specialty metals markets, technological capabilities, continued emphasis on shifting its product mix to more value-added products, low absolute debt levels, solid liquidity position and conservative philosophy, the agency said.

However, the rating considers Carpenter's still-significant exposure to commodity products, relatively small size and exposure to end markets that are themselves characterized by a high degree of cyclicality, 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.