Moody's cuts Amgen to stable, rates convertible A2

Moody's Investors Service said it affirmed the ratings of Amgen Inc., including its A2 senior unsecured rating and its Prime-1 commercial paper rating.

At the same time, Moody's assigned an A2 rating to Amgen's recently issued zero coupon convertible notes due 2032. In addition, Moody's revised the outlook to stable from positive.

The zero coupon convertible notes due 2032 were issued by Amgen in May 2005 in conjunction with an exchange offer for outstanding Liquid Yield Option Notes due 2032. The new notes are convertible only in specified circumstances into cash and, in part, into Amgen common stock, whereas the old notes were convertible at any time solely into Amgen common stock.

Moody's said the affirmation of Amgen's A2 ratings reflects: (1) very strong cash flow from operations and free cash flow due to the success of Amgen's core products; (2) early indications that recent Medicare reimbursement changes are not currently pressuring Amgen's pricing flexibility; (3) strong liquidity and cash coverage of debt; and (4) relatively high product concentration risk, which partially offsets these strengths.

© 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.